In Albania, domestic grain processing factories continue to rely heavily on imported primary materials for flour production. Despite several meetings held in the past by the Ministry of Agriculture to promote and develop agriculture, the amount purchased from local farmers remains very low.
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| Autocombine harvesting wheat |
According to data from State Institute of Statistics (Alb: INSTAT), grain imports in January-February 2024 increased by 51% compared to the same period the previous year.
Vasfi Sherifi, the director of AGROVAS-SHE company and an expert in agriculture, highlighted that the main reason for the lack of domestic wheat sales to processing factories is the quality of production, Monitor reports.
"The problem with domestically produced wheat remains its quality. This is due to several factors. Firstly, the planted seeds are not homogeneous, meaning there is no certified seed. Farmers use different seeds, which decrease yield. Secondly, each farmer uses a different soil fertilization formula. All these factors affect the quality," he explained.
Adi Haxhiymeri, the chairman of the Flour Processors Association, also emphasized that the reason for the low supply of domestic wheat is the lack of guaranteed quality. He mentioned that only 5,000 tons of old wheat have been purchased from domestic factories, while in foreign markets, wheat is being bought by importers at a price of $270-280 USD per ton.
The main supplying markets for flour processing factories are Italy, Ukraine, and Russia.
To address the issue of wheat sales, last year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development introduced several long-term measures, including increasing storage capacities through financing 50% of the investment via grants from the IPARD III program.
One of the conditions for grant eligibility was the use of certified seeds by farmers to increase yield.
However, following the initiation of investigations by OLAF in July 2023 for suspicions of abuse in the distribution of IPARD II grants, the launch of the IPARD III program has remained blocked.