More and more producers are interested in planting apricot orchards, their area in Moldova has grown by almost 60% over 10 years - up to 4.6 thousand hectares.
Experts from the USAID Efficient Farming in Moldova (USAID APM) project reported this, noting that the availability of new varieties of apricots and the ability to sell apricots at attractive prices on the international market encourage more and more Moldovan producers to plant apricot orchards. Andrei Lozan, a USAID APM fruit production specialist, noted that apricots currently cover 3.2% of the orchard area in Moldova, and there is a constant tendency to increase the area of apricot orchards. If in 2011 the total area of apricot orchards was 2.9 thousand hectares, and fruit-bearing trees - 2.1 thousand hectares, then by 2020 these figures have increased significantly, amounting to respectively 4.6 thousand and 3.6 thousand ha. Thus, over the past 10 years, the increase in the total area of apricot orchards amounted to 59.3%, and fruit-bearing trees - 74.4%. There are 21 varieties of apricots registered in Moldova, although many varieties demanded by consumers abroad, such as Wonder Cot, Magic Cot, Spring Blush, Pricia and others, are not yet included in the Catalog of plant varieties for 2021, while others, such as Big Red, Faralia, Farbaly, approved for production testing. The most favorable conditions for growing apricots are in the south, southeast and center of the country. The area of apricot orchards in the Center region is 818 hectares or half of the total area (46.8%). In the southern part and ATU Gagauzia, the area of apricot orchards is slightly larger than in the northern part of the country, and amounts to 484 ha (27.7%). In recent years, apricot cultivation has penetrated into the northern part of the country, especially into the northern steppe subzone and the northern subzone of Transnistria. Thus, the area of cultivation of apricots in the northern part of the country is 429 hectares (24.6%). The average harvest of apricots directly depends on the area of orchards and the total yield and was influenced by various natural disasters and climatic phenomena of that period. The highest average yield of apricots was in 2016 - 6.74 t/ha, which almost reached the world level (7.78 t/ha) and put this species in 2nd place after the apple crop. Lower average yields were in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018, with a minimum value in 2020 (1.52 t/ha), when there were strong spring frosts.// 11.03.2022 — InfoMarket.
