Moldova's agriculture is at a crossroads, with significant challenges generated by the political and economic changes of recent years, said Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Ludmila Catlabuga. According to her, the country needs to make an essential transition to align with European Union standards, which involves adjusting agricultural policies and practices.
In a public debate titled "Moldova's agriculture in the context of European integration", Ludmila Catlabuga said that she looks at things also as a young farmer, who chose to stay in the country and start a business in the livestock sector. "Taking over some old, post-Soviet stables, we tried to rebuild them, to modernize them so that we could achieve standards, quality, safety," noted the official.
The minister said that following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, after Moldova "fed the entire Soviet space", that portioning out of land, farms followed. As a result, the impression was created among the population that the agricultural sector can no longer produce and there are no more domestic products.
In the official’s opinion, now that the Republic of Moldova has the status of EU candidate state, additional efforts should be made to develop the sector. Experts, representatives of public authorities, but also farmers are involved in the development of agricultural policies. The authorities’ goal is to develop policies adjusted to the realities of the Republic of Moldova.
The minister of agriculture considers that it is hard to achieve the results witnessed in the countries of the European Union, but the farmers who visited those states know about the benefits that exist there. The Republic of Moldova aims to reach this level, said Ludmila Catlabuga.
In another development, the minister said that a goal is to develop food culture by supporting and promoting the local products, as they do in many European countries. "We are talking about that feeling of local product: here we grow, here we produce, here we sell," noted the official.
According to her, it is very important that the products from the field reach the shelves of stores, being of quality and in the necessary volumes to meet the demand, first of all, of the domestic market, of the local consumer. Subsequently, the Moldovan products will certainly be promoted on foreign markets, which offer great opportunities to farmers, but also pose enormous challenges.
The public debate entitled "Moldova's agriculture in the context of European integration" was held as part of the project "IPN News Agency for Social Cohesion and a Pro-European Moldova", funded by IMS.
