Fruit Garden project: lavender field planted at the Agro-industrial College in Riscani district

340,000 EUR will be invested in the rehabilitation and equipping of the Agro-industrial College in Riscani district. The works have started with the planting of 2 ha of lavender and 2 ha of sage. At the same time, the institution’s laboratory is to be equipped with furniture, state-of-the-art equipment, IT technology and a plant for extracting etheric oils. The investment is part of the “Fruit Garden” project, implemented by the Government of the Republic of Moldova with EU support through the European Investment Bank.

In the first phase of the project, the agricultural machinery needed to plant, harvest and maintain the lavender and sage plantations was delivered. Using these machines, the students of the college, guided by their teachers, successfully planted the lavender and sage fields.

The harvest will be processed using the capacities of the teaching laboratory to be built and equipped within the project.

The direct beneficiaries of the investments will be more than 330 students of the Agro-Industrial College in Riscani, specialists from the sector, as well as farmers who specialise in the cultivation of hetero-oil plants.

Following the implementation of the investment project, the Agro-Industrial College in Riscani will become a training centre for qualified specialists in this field.

At present, products derived from the cultivation of hetero-oleaginous plants are in great demand on regional and international markets. Being resistant to more arid conditions, they are suitable for cultivation in the Republic of Moldova.

As part of the “Fruit Garden” project, the government is investing 12 million EUR in rehabilitating and equipping 10 educational and research institutions in the country. The money is being provided by the European Union through the European Investment Bank.

Previously, through the same project, important investments were made at the Technical University of Moldova, the State Agrarian University of Moldova and the Centre of Excellence in Viticulture and Winemaking in Chisinau. Here, renovation and modernisation work cost a total of around 6 million EUR.