019-Snapshot_strawberry_field_day.doc

LLUKA E EPERME/GORNJA LUKA, Kosovo — The strawberries ripening in Xhavit Mulaj’s greenhouse provide just one example of USAID’s efforts to help Kosovo exploit the worldwide growth in popularity of the red, juicy fruit.

Across Kosovo, USAID is actively promoting the adoption of new strawberry varieties and technologies, as well as innovative ways of handling, packing and marketing the soft fruit. The efforts are helping Kosovo’s strawberry producers sell everything they can grow, all while supporting USAID’s wider goals of fostering growth, creating jobs and generating exports.

“The good news so far is there is no problem with sales,” Vahid Avdiu, a consultant for USAID’s New Opportunities for Agriculture (NOA) project, told farmers during a recent field day.

While more than 100 growers currently produce strawberries across Kosovo, most still focus on the open-field cultivation of a limited number of varieties. That leads to a concentrated and short production season that yields fruit that is uncompetitive on broader markets.

To improve the situation, USAID has introduced new strawberry varieties at both the farm and nursery level. The latter plantings allow the propagation of new runners, creating a multiplier effect that further expands the diffusion of new varieties. Broadening the mix of cultivars also extends Kosovo’s strawberry season to 250 days, or well beyond the far more limited 60 to 90 days it ran until recently, says Kujtim Lepaja, NOA’s strawberry specialist.

New technologies also help lengthen the season. These include the stacked shelves of long, compost-filled plastic bags in which Mulaj is growing 5,000 strawberry plants inside a greenhouse just 600 square meters (6,500 square feet) in size. The high-tech but low-cost approach introduced by USAID allows Mulaj to plant 10 times as many strawberries as he could outdoors, using more traditional techniques.

“They also ripen 30 days earlier compared to strawberries grown in open fields,” Mulaj said. The advantage is clear: Strawberries sell for 3 Euros a kilogram in April, but just 1 Euro a month later.

To help in the marketing of Kosovo’s new bumper crop of strawberries, USAID also is organizing promotional events in both Pristina and Tirana. Neighboring Albania represents an early test market for exports of Kosovo-grown strawberries.