Moldova Vineyards Shrink Despite Support
Moldova's vineyard area has shrunk significantly in recent years. While new vine cultivation projects are adding 1,000 hectares annually, five times that area (5,000 hectares) is being cleared each year, according to Andrian Digolean, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry.
The Ministry of Agriculture has implemented a number of measures to support farmers interested in vine cultivation. These include a subsidy of 200,000 lei per hectare for planting vines of technical varieties, with a density of 3,200 plants per hectare. An additional 20,000 lei per hectare is available for vineyards cultivating grapes with a protected geographical indication or protected designation of origin. The Ministry has also introduced additional support for those planting indigenous grape varieties.
Data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry shows that over the past decade, 3,600 hectares of vines were planted, while over 18,700 hectares were cleared.
Moldova currently has 120,000 hectares under vine cultivation. Of this area, 66,000 hectares are planted with technical grape varieties, 17,000 hectares with table grape varieties, and the remaining area belongs to households.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
