The Toma Family and 14 Hectares of Buckthorn berries, Blueberries and Chokeberries. Find out the story behind a business developed with EU funds

Last year the Toma Family from Ungheni launched their agricultural business on a 14-hectare plantation of buckthorn berries, blueberries and chokeberries. The couple seems to be optimist and confident despite the fact they are at the beginning of their journey. Iurie works side-by-side with his wife, Rodica and their three children, each of them having a land plot. They would like to focus on the internal market and sell their berries in the country.

“Last year, in 2020, the elder daughter and son-in-law, and the middle daughter as well, came to me one day and said: Father, we are ready to invest along with you and contribute to this business”, farmer Iurie Toma stated. Every day they get up early and devote all their time to work the land at home. This is the most important thing for the whole family.

“We wake up at four-five in the morning as it is obvious in summer. We go to the field to monitor how the plants are growing, to detect any issues such as pests or other things that may affect the orchard,” Rodica Toma says. Any family business requires a lot of financial resources, and the Toma couple calculated the costs per planted hectare. Their dream came true with the help of “Fruit Garden of Moldova” Project, supported by the European Union, the European Investment Bank and the Moldovan Government.

Fruit Garden of Moldova” supported us financially, and we were able to import the seedlings from Romania and Poland. We also have installed an advanced irrigation system and put it into operation this year,” the Farmer tells.

Lemitro SRL would like to market its first harvest in the country. Besides fresh and frozen berries, the Toma Family would like to process buckthorn berries and develop its own juice line. “We have tried to produce three types of juice: the first one should be pure juice with pulp, honey would be added to the second type and ginger to the third type of juice,” Rodica states. The farmers encourage other people to initiate their berry-business, having spoken about its advantages and opportunities in the video, available at: https://bit.ly/3y8OIxD