Moldova's vineyards eye best grape harvest in 5 years
The year 2025 is shaping up to be promising for Moldovan grape growers. Spring and early summer weather conditions have been ideal for vine growth, and specialists anticipate a good grape harvest.
Furthermore, the vineyards were largely unaffected by this spring's frosts, which bodes well for both quality and quantity.
Moldova could achieve its best table grape yield in the last five years, according to Gheorghe Gaberi, president of the Association of Grape Producers and Exporters of Moldova.
According to Gaberi, it's too early to discuss exact quantities, but super-intensive table grape varieties (or high-density table grape vineyards) can yield 35-40 tons per hectare. Other types of vineyards, however, can produce up to 10-12 tons of grapes per hectare.
To date, the highest volume of table grape exports has exceeded 80,000 tons. However, the long-standing objective for Moldovan producers is to reach 100,000 tons of exported grapes, Gaberi added.
The condition of the vineyards determines the yield, along with climatic conditions. Last year, for instance, was very dry, and at the beginning of the season, the plants were in quite a difficult situation. This year, so far, has been perfect: all the spring months and the first month of summer have been good. Pollination was excellent, and we now have very beautiful grapes. The spring rains were also sufficient, especially in the central area of Moldova, with ample rainfall allowing the plants to develop well.
The expert further emphasizes that the coming months are crucial for the vineyards, as drought or excessive rain during the harvest period could impact grape quantity.
The super-intensive vineyards we have... we're approaching 1,000 hectares managed under the pergola system. These vineyards are mandatorily equipped with irrigation systems, and many already have hail protection systems, with some even having rain protection. In these areas, we can plan for a guaranteed yield. However, to date, these represent somewhere under 10% of the areas cultivated with table grapes. We've expanded these areas, but the majority of the vineyards are old, utilizing a vertical trellising system and lacking irrigation due to a scarcity of water sources.
It's worth noting that in the last 10 years, approximately 4,000 hectares of grapevines have been planted in total, while over 20,000 hectares have been cut down, as previously stated by Andrian Digolean, State Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry. He also mentioned that the age of these vineyards is alarming – over 25,000 hectares are more than 25 years old. Nevertheless, smaller vineyard areas are being planted, albeit with a higher yield.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Moldova currently has 120,000 hectares of grapevines, but only a portion of them are included in the Vitivinicultural Register. The difference between the NBS data and the register is 11,000 hectares. Furthermore, only 15,000 hectares are planted with table grape varieties, and the rest with wine grape varieties.
As stated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, in the 2023-2024 season, Moldova exported 85,000 tons of table grapes to 33 countries. The export value totaled $79 million, with an average purchase price on foreign markets of one dollar per kilogram.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
