The Moldova Fruct Association is concerned about the difficult situation faced by fruit growers because of the drought and the restrictions imposed on Moldovan exports by Russia, demanding that a state of emergency be introduced in agriculture. The Association submitted to the Government, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Food Industry and the National Agency for Food Safety a list of necessary measures to be taken to overcome the situation.
Iurie Fală, executive director of Moldova Fruct, told IPN that because of the drought, fruit growers expect smaller yields of plums and apples. Moreover, they will have difficulty selling them. “And if the market for plums has been diversified in recent years, the situation will be tough for apples. Of the 255,000 tonnes of apples exported from the 2021 harvest, 231,000 tonnes reached the Russian market”, explained Iurie Fală.
Moldova Fruct estimates a harvest of 485,000 tonnes of apples this year. “More than half will go to processing, to make concentrated apple juice in Moldova. We are talking about 250-260,000 tonnes. Another 50-60,000 tonnes will go for domestic consumption, leaving around 180-190,000 tonnes for export, which is less than last year, because this year apple orchards were affected by frosts in the spring, and later on by the drought”, said Iurie Fală.
This is the third embargo imposed by Russia on exports of Moldovan fruits since 2006. “It’s a political affair. We can see that the districts on the left bank of the Dniester are not targeted in this embargo. Our Association members have been working for more than 10 years to diversify the markets for Moldovan fruits. For some fruits, such as plums, we’ve seen progress, and in this regard the Free Trade Agreement has helped us to expand to European Union countries. For apples it is more complicated, because in the EU Poland is a large producer and exporter. In fact, Poland is the world’s second largest producer of apples, after China. According to the Moldova Fruit Strategy, we have guided our apple growers to introduce advanced technologies, to diversify the assortment of fruits, but these processes take some time”, said Iurie Fală.
Moldova Fruct has asked the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Agency for Food Safety to take measures for unblocking exports to Russia, including intensification of phytosanitary inspections to make sure the exported fruits are not contaminated with pests or substances banned under Russian food safety rules.
The Association is also asking the Government to identify, with the support of development partners, financial resources to compensate fruit growers for the losses due to the drought and the Russian embargo.
Effective beginning today, Russia’s plant and animal health watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor has introduced temporary restrictions on exports of agricultural goods from 31 Moldovan districts, citing repeated violations of sanitary rules.
