018-Snapshot_blueberries.doc

JUNIK, Kosovo—For a handful of commercial farmers, the blueberry is the new fruit in town. Thanks to USAID, Kosovo now boasts its first 10 hectares (25 acres) of cultivated blueberry plantations.

Farmers planted the blueberry bushes, imported from the United States, in 2012 and 2013. The first commercial harvest is slated for 2014, once the transplanted Duke, Bluecrop, Elliot and other highbush blueberries establish their root systems in low-pH soil fed with drip irrigation. The mixed cultivars ripen sequentially, which should allow for a seven- to eight-week harvest.

“The demand is there—people know their value,” says farmer Florim Shala, who planted 3 hectares of blueberry bushes on his land outside this village in western Kosovo. “Whatever we will be able to grow, we should sell without problem.”

Blueberries bushes can produce for 60 years, providing a sustainable and profitable livelihood for growers of the highly nutritious and popular fruit. Worldwide demand continues to outstrip supply, even as cultivation expands beyond North America.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity for Kosovo. It’s a high-value crop, produced using minimal area and is labor-intensive. That makes it perfect: Kosovo needs high-value products, has many smallholdings and lots of unemployment,” says Rick Dale, a contract consultant for USAID’s New Opportunities for Agriculture project.

While Kosovo has a long tradition of growing other soft fruits, including raspberries, for processing, USAID has worked to encourage its transition into producing handpicked fruit for higher-value fresh sales. For example, fresh, handpicked strawberries, another soft fruit actively promoted by USAID, sell locally for up to 10 times the price of berries picked for processing, typically freezing or juicing.

Kosovo’s climate and proximity to lucrative export markets in the European Union leave it well positioned to develop a fresh blueberry industry that can support USAID’s goals of promoting growth, creating jobs and generating exports.

Since fragile blueberries must be handpicked for fresh sale, Kosovo’s low labor costs provide it a competitive edge. So does its geography: blueberries ripen in Kosovo two to three weeks before they do in Poland, the major European berry producer.

To support the knowledge base among blueberry growers, USAID has run a number of field schools focused on the crop’s exacting pest control, pruning, nutrition, irrigation, post-harvest handling and other requirements.

“They will all be embraced,” says nursery owner Xhavit Mulaj, who has begun propagating a small number of blueberry bushes for sale to growers across Kosovo.

USAID organized a field school for commercial blueberry growers on April 30, 2013, drawing more than 30 farmers, as well as other agriculture experts from government and academia. USAID helped establish Kosovo’s first 10 hectares of commercial blueberry plantations.

Photo: Andrew Bridges