About 1.2 million strawberry seedlings exported by Germany have been banned from entering the Lipetsk region. This was reported to the Russian publication FruitNews by the chief agronomist of "Berry Fields" LLC, Irina Dotsenko, on the sidelines of the international conference "Berries of Russia 2018".
"For two years, we have been importing the plant material normally, with expert checks and quarantine certificates. This year, however, 1.2 million seedlings have been denied access, even though we had confirmation that no quarantine objects were found," explained Irina Dotsenko.
According to her, the planting material of all German producers was banned. At the moment, the company "Berry Fields" is looking for support from government agencies to resolve this issue and receive compensations for this huge loss.
"We cannot expand now. The acreage devoted to wild strawberries at the moment is 45 hectares. If we planted those 1.2 million seedlings, then we would have 72 hectares. We want to import the planting material from a reliable supplier," she commented.
As for the possibility of purchasing plant material from Russian producers, the chief agronomist said that it is more profitable to import the seedlings. The main reason is the reduction of technology costs involved in the production process.
"We ideally focus on Europe, where the cost of growing the plant material is lower because of its well-established production schemes and equipment. In Russia, the surcharge on the final product includes capital costs for technology, irrigation, and so on," added Irina Dotsenko.
Source: fruitnews.ru