Apple acreage in Moldova has fallen in the past five years

For the past five to six years, Moldova has reduced its apple acreage by a few hundred hectares every year. While Moldova had 53,000 ha of apple orchards in 2017, the total area decreased to 49,000 ha. New plantings were also made, but the pace of development of new apple orchards was slower than the process of grubbing up. In accordance with the "National strategy for the development of fruit production in Moldova until 2025", the country wants to further reduce the area of apple orchards to 42,000 hectares. The Moldovan Ministry of Agriculture (MAFIM) wants to free up land from neglected, old and unproductive plantations and has therefore promised to increase subsidies for clearing old orchards to 10,000 MDL per hectare (482 euros). However, growers' associations are in no hurry to grub up because they are afraid of a massive reduction in the area of apple orchards. According to the managers of large horticultural companies, "for some growers, the sale of old apple trees for ...