Premium
As of next year, the 'Tomato' program could use only Romanian seeds, if the domestic seed farming resource develops well enough to allow this, Agriculture Minister Adrian Chesnoiu said on Friday in Slatina.
Asked if the farmers who sign up for vegetable growing programs will be required to use Romanian seeds, the Minister said that this cannot yet happen because the production of domestic vegetable seeds is not sufficiently developed to cover the needs of a program such as the one for tomatoes.
"Today we do not have a well-developed national vegetable seed farming base capable of covering the entire program. The farmers' appetite for the 'Tomato' program was one element we took into account when we decided not to condition the unfolding of the program on the use of Romanian seeds. This does not mean that we are not looking to the future. If possible, this year we will create the pool for the production of Romanian vegetable seeds so as to link the program's development to the use of Romanian seeds as of 2023," said Adrian Chesnoiu.
