The future agricultural chambers will benefit thousands of small farmers who now do not have agricultural consultancy, access to new technologies or financial support, Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Vladimir Bolea stated in IPN’s public debate  “Agricultural chambers in the European Union, models for the Republic of Moldova”. According to him, agricultural chambers will be created with the aim of representing and protecting farmers’ interests, offering them easier access to subsidies and pre-accession funds from the EU.

Minister Vladimir Bolea said the agricultural chambers will be consultative organizations through which the dialogue between farmers and public authorities with competences in the agricultural field will be institutionalized. These entities will help agriculture in Moldova to become high-tech, profitable and efficient.

“The Chamber of Agriculture is a professional community of farmers. We need to transform agriculture from subsistence farming, from amateur farming to professional farming. Because agriculture is an extremely complicated profession that requires a lot of technology, science. In addition, agriculture means social protection, rural development and the economic component, which is another science. Agriculture is so complex that it cannot be treated as just any activity, but it must be treated as a strictly professional activity. The difference between professional associations and agricultural chambers is that in professional associations there are hundreds of member farmers, while in agricultural chambers there will be thousands of farmers. In the agricultural chambers, all the farmers will benefit from direct treatment,” said the Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry.

According to him, the work of agricultural chambers will be financed from membership fees, consultancy and/or assistance services provided for money, donations or sponsorships, as well as from other legal sources.

“There will be a membership fee and the state will mandatorily make a contribution. Today, the number of farmers who have any legal form is far too small compared to the existing reality. Therefore, I firmly believe that we will talk about tens of thousands of small farmers who will benefit from agricultural chambers, subsidization funds and pre-accession funds,” stated Vladimir Bolea.

According to the draft law that was given a first reading by Parliament, agricultural chambers will be constituted in two levels: 10 regional agricultural chambers and the National Agricultural Chamber. The minister said that graduates of specialized institutions and also consultants from international projects will be employed to work for these agricultural entities.

“For the ten chambers, we will need agronomists, veterinarians. Why are we creating ten? We made the decision to make ten chambers in order to be closer to farmers. For example, in the south of the Republic of Moldova, grain production, sheep farming and horticulture, winegrowing are developed. In the north of the Republic of Moldova, there is another specificity. In some districts, sugar beet production is developed. Every year we have graduates of the faculties of agronomy and veterinary medicine. In addition, there are different consultants within the projects. I hope that they will join the agricultural chambers. We need to employ university graduates and experienced people, and the biggest beneficiaries will be the thousands of small agricultural producers who today do not benefit from any form of consultancy, new information to be able to compete at least internally, not to mention regional competition,” explained the official.

The public debate entitled “Agricultural chambers in the European Union, models for the Republic of Moldova” was the fourth installment of the project “Double integration through cooperation and information. Continuity”, which is funded by the Department for Relations with the Republic of Moldova. The content of this debate does not represent the official position of the Department for Relations with the Republic of Moldova.