Table Grape Production in Moldova: Challenges and Opportunities

Table grapes, a product in good demand on the CIS and EU markets, represent great export opportunities for Moldovan producers. All key market players agree that in order to succeed they need to consider consumer preferences when adjusting production capacities and consolidate their efforts to ensure that the table grape sector occupies a central place in Moldova's agricultural economy. One of the first steps in this direction was the round table dedicated to opportunities for a competitive development of table grape production in Moldova, organized by CNFA's Agribusiness Development Project (ADP), funded by USAID, and the Moldovan Export Promotion Organization (MEPO) in May.

Table grapes growers and exporters, high level officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry and the Parliament, as well as viticulture researchers participated in the round table discussion. They identified a number of critical constraints for the sector development: the need to replace virtually all domestic table grape vineyards, an obsolete range of varieties, and the lack of modern production techniques. At the same time, market opportunities call for immediate action and investment in addressing these constraints, which CNFA's ADP assistance targets already.

The roundtable participants and experts developed a list of specific recommendations for changing the current situation for better. These are available in MEPO's Final Report on Roundtable Findings and Recommendations. CNFA is organizing a series of such round tables, aiming to generate strong feedback from the public and to engage more farmers in production of high value crops. The most recent event was a roundtable on the perspectives of fruit production in Moldova held on June 21st.