Moldovans Double Cabbage Yield with New Technology
FrontLines - May 2009
By Emily Patterson
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ACSA consultant Eugen Revenco discusses the new technology of
tomato seedling production with Ala Novac.
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CHISINAU, Moldova—Ala
Novac and her husband, Andrei,
used to grow and sell their
vegetable crop each year using
traditional techniques everyone
else used. So productivity was
low and they harvested at the
same time as the other farmers,
selling their crop when prices
were at rock bottom.
But they received a $2,000
grant for new technology to
grow cabbage earlier than
usual, a grant from USAID.
Matching those funds, the
Novacs invested in cell trays,
which produce a higher transplant
success rate for seedlings,
installed drip irrigation
to provide a more precise
application of water and
reduce costs, and bought agril,
a microporous material that
covers plants to protect them
from frost.
Prior to planting, the project’s
staff advised the couple
on new seed varieties, and
gave them in-depth training on
business management and the
new technology.
“The project really helped
me,” Ala Novac said. “I could
call their consultants on the
phone any time I had technical
questions. They would always
get me the answers I needed.”
Energetic and innovative,
Novac was the first farmer in
her village to use agril and
drip irrigation. She nearly doubled
her production from 25
tons/hectare—the average cabbage
yield in Moldova—to 45
tons/hectare for the first crop.
She also brought produce to
market two weeks before the
normal harvest season began.
During those two weeks, the
Novacs sold their produce at
three times the regular price.
Because they harvested early
and had prepared new seedlings,
they were able to plant a second
crop for the fall, increasing their
profits even more.
Ala Novac organized a group
of women to plant the same
seedlings at the same time,
allowing them to sell in the
large quantities the buyers
wanted.
As a result of the Novacs’
work with USAID, field demonstrations
and seminars were
organized at the Novac farm for
over 130 farmers interested in
implementing the new
technology.
Even though Moldova’s
economy is agriculturallybased,
the country still imports
almost all of its out-of-season
produce. Imported fruits and
vegetables can cost up to five
times the in-season price of
locally produced crops, which
means a higher percentage of
people’s income is spent on
food, and fewer people can
afford to buy. Approximately
one quarter of the population, or
40 percent of the workforce, has
left the country looking for better-
paying jobs. Even Ala’s
daughter has left and currently
lives in Portugal.
But if small-scale growers
can expand their out-of-season
production, money that is now
leaving the country could go to
improving welfare and reducing
the need to find better paying
jobs outside the country.
ADP works with the
Moldovan NGO Agency for
Rural Development (ACSA) to
increase rural incomes and
employment by improving the
international competitiveness in
Moldova’s high value agriculture
sector. ACSA has a network
of 400 agricultural specialists
who are present in almost every
village in the country.
“I work extra hours and extra
hard so that my children will
come home from abroad and
work with me here. This is my
dream,” said Ala Novac.
★
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