“These two years I had the extraordinary privilege of serving as the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, a sector that over the years I learned to love and serve with courage, determination, but most of all with all my heart. It is a privilege for which I will be grateful all my life to PM Rama, the Socialist Party and the citizens who gave us their trust”, emphasized Krifca.

“This cycle closes today for me with the awareness and pride that this period has brought a new reality, with concrete results and tangible investments in agriculture”, she added.

Krifca mentioned some of the results achieved. “The significant increase in exports by over 200 million Euros in two years, the expected exceeding of 600 million Euros in exports in 2023 and our products that today supply over 80 countries in the world, are a great business card of the epochal transformation that has happened and is happening in Albanian agriculture”, wrote the outgoing Minister of Agriculture.

At the end, Krifca also congratulated her successor in the office./p.s./

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Frida Krifca closely inspected the progress of the work in this center which was built with the support of government programs and according to the best standards, with refrigeration capacity and so on. This center helps the farmers in the area to sell products, guaranteeing them optimal prices and supplying the local and foreign market with fresh fruits and vegetables in every season.

“Built thanks to the support of our programs in Savër, Lushnja, we saw, together with the hard working Mayor Josif Gorrea the high-standard organization of cargoes for export of watermelons and peppers produced by our farmers, which are in great demand in the western markets “, said Krifca.

The minister emphasized that, “We have set a major objective which we have announced publicly, to reach one billion Euros in agricultural exports by 2030”.

Krifca stated that, “We hit 500 million Euros last year and it is quite possible that we will end this year with around or over 600 million Euros of agricultural exports”./p.s./

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Frida Krifca was in Gjocaj of Peqin, where she met local farmers in the area who are engaged in fruit growing and have set up massive plantations with nectarine, peach, pear and apple crops thanks to support with agricultural machinery, tax-free oil and other measures from the National Scheme.

In this meeting, the minister got closely acquainted with the work, difficulties and passion of the farmers of this area to implement new technologies in the works required by fruit growing, with the aim of achieving higher yields with standards and quality, making these products quite required for export.

Krifca expressed commitment to clear policies in support of farmers and the agricultural sector aimed at reducing costs through mechanization with advanced technology and increasing local production according to the best standards.

The minister said that the development of fruit growing today creates an advantage and together with the collection points make a very important binomial for the development of agriculture.

The production of fruit trees in our country reached more than 317 thousand tons at the end of last year, according to INSTAT.

If compared to the same period last, this production increased by 4.92%.

Official data from INSTAT show that during this year fruit exports increased by almost 25%. /p.s./

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Frida Krifca met in Lin the fishermen of Pogradec and the Fisheries Management Organization with whom she closely discussed the progress of their work, the difficulties they have and the addressing of support to help the fishermen of this area.

Krifca emphasized that thanks to the support of the Albanian government, the fishermen of Pogradec will have a new fishing pier in context of the Blue Economy project with the Italian government for the construction of 7 new landing sites along the Albanian coast at 8.2 million Euros.

For their part, the fishermen positively assessed the support given in terms of increasing the number of spawn, the use of tax-free oil for their vessels, the support with subsidies for the renewal of the fleet of fishing vessels, as well as the legal support in maintaining the development of sustainable fishing.

“This year we expect 1 million and 700 spawns, which is the largest amount recorded, so far”, they said.

“Fishermen are obliged to create 4 kg of spawn for carrying out their activity in Lake Ohrid, as a condition for the preservation and renewal of the lake and the development of fishing that promotes the economy of the area. We are committed to preserving Lake Ohrid as an asset and cultural and economic heritage of the country that is also protected by UNESCO,” said the minister.

Krifca also warned that there will be zero tolerance for illegal fishing and said that the relevant structures are in a daily action to stop illegal activities in fishing. /p.s./

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Frida Krifca shared in the social media images from the apple plantations in Dishnica, Korça.

Thanks to the support measures from the National Scheme and tax-free oil, the farmers all over the country have increased the areas with different agricultural crops, while the farmers of Korça have become the main suppliers of apples for industrial production and consumption in the markets abroad.

According to INSTAT, the group of fruit trees accounts for 41.96% of the production; the main weight in this group is occupied by apple production, where only Korça region accounts for 62.97% of the total apple production in the country.

In recent years, Korça has marked a historical turning point in Albanian exports of apples.

About 65% of the apple production in the southeastern region of the country, known as the area that massively cultivates this type of fruit, goes for export to the neighboring countries, Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia, while the apple export map “Made in Albania” in recent years has marked a new dimension of success.

Today, the export of Albanian apples is attracting the attention of other large markets of European Union countries, such as Bulgaria, Greece, Austria, Germany, etc.

Albania cultivates more than 43,195,000 apple trees which give a production of more than 80 thousand tons; this figure implies the further increase in the export of Albanian apples to new foreign markets. /p.s./

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Frida Krifca was at the fishing port in Shengjin, Lezha, where she met fishermen and fish processors, some of whom are beneficiaries of the National Support Scheme for the renovation of fishing vessels.

The minister closely saw the ship of Erjon, who has inherited this profession from his father and through the support of the national financing scheme has completely renovated the infrastructure of the ship with a new crane and modern technology that have helped him increase productivity and increase export contracts with leading companies of the European market.

Erjon is also a beneficiary of the forty ALL per liter support for fishing boats. Minister Krifca said that, “Through this measure, fishermen across the country were supported last year with a total value of 200 million ALL.” Krifca assured the fishermen that funding and support for them will continue as 260 vessels receive oil at 40 ALL/liter

“Following the increase in the number of tourists, there is more demand for sea products in this period and the new crane helps us save time for collecting fishing nets”, said Erjoni.

For the renovation of the fishing vessels, the fishermen were reimbursed by the state to the extent of 50% of the total investment. /p.s./

According to her, the latest Foreign Trade Report by the National Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) indicated that agricultural exports are showing stable progress, maintaining an upward trend by around 20% year-on-year in July.

“The INSTAT data clearly show success of agriculture development policies devised to grow local production, quality and standards of Made in Albania products that successfully compete in Europe’s most sophisticated markets and in a wider region for their quality,” Agriculture Minister said.

According to Krifca, Albania has become an important regional factor for agricultural exports.

/r.e/u.sh/

Haling the news as an outstanding development for the Albanian grape growers and winemakers, the Agriculture Minister noted that the country’s vine and wine sector is provided with fresh impetus with the adoption of the new law on winemaking and viticulture.

According to Krifca, Albania’s membership in this international organization is an outcome of the hard work done by the Ministry of Agriculture and experts to meet and deliver on any chain of the long process of internationalization of the Made in Albania winemaking industry.

According to the official data, Albania has a vineyard area of around 11,000 hectares and wine production has increased by around 11.2 percent in the recent years. The final product is sold both in the domestic and international markets. The annual trade volume in the winemaking industry is estimated at Euro 15 million. Some 100 vineries across Albania produce over 195 metric tons of wine annually.

Albania exports top quality grape to Kosovo, Croatia, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro.

/u.sh/

“With Emilio, Pandeliu and Joni, our young people full of energy, who are building their future in their own country by engaging in agriculture”, said Krifca, who also shared a video in the social media of the conversation with the young people.

“I am one of the smallest farmers in Konispol municipality. I like agriculture, it seems to me something very profitable with great benefits. I pursue my studies at the Faculty of Economics and I fit in very well there. I made a business plan for the Konispol area, which is an agro-tourism”, said one of the farmers.

Another young man said that, “I graduated in agronomy at the University in Greece. I got experience there and I have been following the season here for 3-4 years while picking and selling tangerines. We have gathered a group of farmers; we are doing some things”.

Another farmer said that, “We have a family business, an oil factory, one of the first in Albania, not only in this area, opened since 1994 and we generally process the olives of the local farmers for payment. Since the oil produced in this area and the machine we have that can do a cold water processing, a German machine, we try to find a market for the oil at a pretty good price. Tomorrow, we expect an Italian merchant who will take a considerable quantity of oil, to begin with. As a young man, I see the future in this area; it is an area that I like and I want to continue in the agri-tourism. Since Ksamil and Saranda are 30 km away and they are full of tourists, our area also offers opportunities for agri-tourism. Especially Konsipoli which is a town that is located on a hill and from which you can see the sea, the river, the lake, the field, the isle in front, all possible options that the human eye can see. We have a further development project that also includes agri-tourism, in addition to olives”. /p.s./

She promised a financial support of 40,000 Lekë per month for those who study in some programs of the Agricultural University of Tirana.

“UBT has been qualified as the number 1 university in Albania for several years in a row for its academic offer, becoming one of the most modern universities of life sciences in the country”, emphasized Krifca.

The minister said that, “At this university, you can study in the field of agriculture, environment, forestry and food safety, with 20 bachelor’s programs, more than 30 master’s programs and 6 doctoral programs, which focus especially on agricultural sciences and those of life (agriculture, economy and agribusiness, food, environment, veterinary medicine and forests)”.

“To study in these programs, students will not pay any tariff, but will benefit 40,000 Lekë per month and will have the opportunity to be accommodated in the university campus for a symbolic payment of 5,000 Lekë per month”, underlined Krifca.

“In cooperation with BOKU University, Vienna and Viterbo, Italy, the UBT offers the possibility of obtaining two degrees simultaneously for the branch you choose to study, making your degree internationally recognized and opening more career opportunities in the field of agriculture”, she emphasized.

“We invite young people to join Agriculture, choosing to study in some priority programs for our country at the Agricultural University of Tirana”, concluded Krifca. /p.s./