The price of strawberries is higher than the producers forecast for this period as there are few fruits this year, Ion Ciocan, president of the Association of Gardeners, Fruit Growers, Winegrowers and Flower Growers “Demetra”, has told Info-Prim Neo. At the start of the season, the Moldovan strawberries sold for 80 lei a kilogram, while the imported ones – for 65-70 lei a kilogram. The prices fell to 30-35 lei or even 20 lei a kilogram. “The planting material is also a problem as there is a shortage of it. We cooperate with producers from France, the Netherlands and Ukraine. We want a producer that would provide seedlings to all those that want to grow strawberries near the house and on large areas. We hope to cooperate with them and export strawberries together,” Ciocan said. According to him, a lot of old sorts of strawberries are sold in Moldova. “We must import new sorts because we have labor force. I hope that the volumes of strawberry imported from Turkey will decrease significantly soon and the national producers could also export.” Ion Ciocan is skeptical about possible support from the state. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry does not invite the strawberry growers to talks, he said.