Varieties of table grapes from USA to be tested, multiplied in Moldova

Chisinau, 7 May /MOLDPRES/ - Nine new varieties of black-colour, seedless  table grapes, which are highly demanded on the international market, have been brought to Moldova from the USA by the USAID High Value Agriculture in Moldova. The varieties of table grapes are to be tested at the Scientific and Practical Institute of Horticulture and Food Technologies from Moldova.   

A specialist in communication at the UDAID High Value Agriculture in Moldova, Inga Burlacu, has told MOLDPRES that most of these varieties had been elaborated at the Cornell University from the New York state, the USA, and are cultivated by American vine-growers in regions with a climate similar to the one in Moldova. The institute will create demonstrative vineyards with these varieties and afterwards their value will be assessed as to the aspect of the grape, dimension of grapes, resistance to diseases. The multiplication of the new varieties and the planting in field by Moldovan vine-growers will be possible after more than 36 months, when the testing period is over and the new high-value varieties will be introduced in the Register of varieties of plants in Moldova.   

The diversification of the assortment of table grapes’ varieties will enhance the competitiveness of Moldovan producers on the international market. This initiative is in synergy with the efforts of the USAID/High Value Agriculture in Moldova project to improve the production of the planting material for vineyards, which is decisive in ensuring the quality and volume of the harvest.

At present, about 20,000 hectares of vineyards with table grapes are cultivated in Moldova, of which 750 hectares represent modern vineyards. Although 42 varieties of table grapes are recorded in the Register of plants’ varieties, including seven seedless varieties, of the white and black colours, the most cultivated remains to  be the Moldova variety, planted on 95 per cent of the newly founded vineyards in 2017.  

In 2017, the volume of table grapes harvested in Moldova reached a maximal quota of about 110,000 tons, of which over 82,000 tons was exported to 20 states, preponderantly Russia, Romania, Belarus and Iraq. The European Union provided a quota of 10,000 tons per year, without customs duties, for table grapes produced in Moldova, which was exceeded by exporters.  

(Reporter V. Bercu, editor L. Alcaza)