Moldovan farmer plants pygmy trees so as to collect fruit without ladder

Mihai Cojocaru, a farmer from Criuleni, planted fruit trees on 6.5 hectares of land where he is trying a new tree cutting method. “Kym Green Bush” is a technology that enables small trees to yield large crops. The producer told Info-Prim Neo that he wants the people to collect cherries, plums and apricots without ladder. Mihai Cojocaru owns 4.5 ha of sweat cherries, 1.5 ha of apricots, and 0.5 ha of plums. The producer said that this fruit is always in demand. “The sweat cherries are rich in antioxidants. Everyone can eat them – chidden, elderly persons, sick and healthy people. This fruit must be grown without using chemicals. I think the seed fruit sector is not fully developed in Moldova,” he said. Mihai Cojocaru also said that such fruit as cherries and apricots bring large incomes to those who cultivate them. “1 ha of cherries brings an income of €30,000-€40,000,” he stated. Mihai Cojocaru found out about the “Kym Green Bush” method through the agency of the training program of the Agricultural Competitiveness and Enterprise Development Project (ACED). It is a joint program of the United States Agency for International Development and the Millennium Challenge Corporation that is designed to promote high value agriculture in Moldova. The farmer said that the “Kym Green Bush” method ensures high efficiency as the trees are small and those who collect the fruit do not need a ladder. Mihai Cojocaru plans to extend the cherry orchard so as to produce 20-25 tonnes of fruit per hectare. He also intends to put a protection cover over the orchard against hail and to install an irrigation system. These works are to be finished by the end of this year. ACED specialist in fruit production Eugeniu Gudumac has told Info-Prim Neo that “Kym Green Bush” is a good method as it allows easier cleaning the trees and collecting the crop and enables the fruit to grow bigger. The interested Moldovan farmers were offered consultancy by an U.S. expert who was invited by the ACED. This method is now implemented by a number of Moldovan farmers.