The people with initiative spirit are those who move things on in a society. “Created in Moldova” is the new title of an IPN campaign about people who distinguished themselves in 2018 through different accomplishments, creations, technologies or actions.
The Voinești nursery, which was created out of passion for the grafting of walnuts trees, in 2018 obtained a new sort of apples with a red pulp as a result of hybridization. The seeds were planted in 2010 and since then have been assessed and it turned out that the trees are resistant to pests. It is expected that the first trees will be put on sale in the autumn of 2020.
The apples with red pulp were earlier presented to consumers, but these were never so intensely red and with such a pleasant bittersweet taste. “Usually, the sorts of apple with red pulp are bitter and have a not very pleasant flesh. There are not many sorts of apples with a balanced taste and this feature is welcomed by consumers. What we obtained matches well the organoleptic parameters and we are hopeful this will be a success,” stated the technical director of the Voinești nursery Oleg Tîrsînă, who is the son of the nursery’s founder.
Next spring, there will be set up the first experimental plots so as to follow during two years how the sort behaves in natural conditions, being looked after by an experienced specialist. Most probably, experimental plots will be created in the districts of Râșcani and Ștefan Vodă. “We will graft several items so as to accelerate the production of grafted sorts of apples from the given variety and will plant them in the orchard so as to shorten the development cycle,” stated Oleg Tîrsînă.
At this stage, there is no guarantee that the apple tree will behave in a different way in the orchard and will keep its aspect, taste and resistance to pests. It is not known for sure how swiftly the apple will reach maturity and maximum productivity. Intervention in the production conditions could be necessary. After the sort starts to yield, more tests will be done on a wider sample of consumes so as to learn their opinion about the tasting qualities of the apple and to also see for how long the apples can be kept. “We now know about 7% of what we need to know to be able to say that this is a sort that we can start to produce,” stated Oleg Tîrsînă.
As regards investments, the costs are not calculated in money, but rather in the effort made to achieve the expected result. Cooperation relations will be established in the future with persons interested in developing this sort and the production costs will be covered by producers who will ensure the maintenance of the experimental plot. In several years, if the variety turns out to be productive, investments will be probably needed in marketing.
After the apple with red pulp was presented, several producers expressed interest in cooperation and want to test the grafts. “We will probably discuss the planting of the sorts in their orchards with some of them, especially because these have all the conditions. They have knowledge, land, experience, irrigation. We also have, but we do not specialize in apple growing so much and prefer to cooperate with someone for whom this is the basic activity,” stated the technical director.
An application to homologate the apple with red pulp will be submitted after a production background is obtained and revenues will be generated to recover the registration costs.
Sabina Rebeja, IPN