Europe is considered as one of the most beautiful, rich areas with fertile soils and ideal climatic conditions that allow the production of superior quality fruits. This superior quality is certified by the fact that during all the production process the European producers pay special attention to implement the strictest food safety and quality standards by using at the same time sustainable and green production methods. In this frame the EU financed campaign EU FRESH FRUIT GIFT aims to promote the European fresh cherries and blueberries from Greece and Romania to consumers in India, UAE and UK.
The participant organizations are Agricultural Cooperative of Rachi Pieria “Agios Loukas” (AC Rachi) from Greece -coordinator was founded in 1978 to initially operate as an administrative committee whose object was to create a cherry grove for its members. In cooperation with the local departments of the Prefecture in 1979-80, the Cooperative launched a pilot project involving the planting of a cherries grove of 350 thousand square meters (approx. 86.5 acres), which won the Cooperative a prize by the Ministry of Agriculture. Today the A.C of Rachi Pieria “AgiosLoukas” numbers over 100 members while its cherry grove has expanded to 1,100 thousand sq. meters (approx. 271.8 acres).
The Association of South Fruit Producers -FRUCTPROD from Romania as Project partner is an association that brings together 83 fruit producers from the south east and southwest of Romania, an association that was established four years ago (2016) with a diverse structure of fruit species (cherries, sour cherries, apricots, peaches, blueberries, sea buckthorn, sea, plums, walnuts, hazelnuts, strawberries). The farms are of medium-large size with areas of over 10 ha. The farms benefit from high-performance equipment as a working base (tractors, milling machines, spraying pumps, irrigation equipment. Over 30% of the surface have support and anti-hail net, 20% of the cherry surfaces have anti-rain foil.
To discover more about the program, visit the website https://eufreshfruitgift.eu/
