Adriatik Becolli – Korce, farmer, and I am member of ADAD Malore since 2004, currently director for the region of Korca. Our main activity is the production of fruits and seedlings. We are organized in Korca orchards group, while four of us have established the Zemblak nursery in 2003.
Since the beginning many organizations have offered us to become their members, but we have found ourselves in ADAD Malore, because we found what we wanted and we wanted to do, either in terms of organization, the vision for the future, the working method, finding solutions to technical issues of new technology, the provision of genetic base for nursery, our professional training, the introduction of our role in the development of fruit-growing in the regional and national level.
All this is reflected for us; more work, more area planted with intensive orchards, more qualitative fruit production, more seedlings and new varieties, more income for our families, more willing to work in the future. I want to highlight just a fact, that in 2004 we produced only 9,300 seedlings, while in 2016 we produce over 100 thousand seedlings. While in the last two years we have exported to Macedonia around 30 thousand seedlings, so after 10 years we are back from the importer to exporter of fruit and trees.
Our achievements will not be kept in a particular group, but be spreaded to others, which are disorganized and in need of organization and our support. I based on my experience, accomplishments and in group level invite others to come to ADAD because they will find the right solutions and improve their agricultural activities.
Vehip Salkurti, fermer anetar i adad qe ne 2000, jam drejtues i ADAD ne Diber.
I have about 16 years that I deal with the production of fruits. As incentive for this served my inclusion in ADAD Malore in 2000, where together with FERT Paris, supported my initiative to deal with fruit-growing as a sector with high prospective in Dibra and in 2001 I established a pilot apple orchard, the first intensive orchard in Dibra and in Albania, which served as a model orchard. After 2003 (the year when the production started, took 60 quintals/0.2 ha and then 120 kv/0.2 ha). This was the incentive to increasing the surface and with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture I enlarged the surface to about 7 ha or and today I have around 1,500 fruit trees.
From 2008 I produced about 6,500 to 10,000 liters of apple juice using handicraft methods, a product that is preferred by consumers. In 2012 together with Namik SHEHI we have invested with the support of Government (ARDA) for the establishment of cold storage capacities with a capacity of 500 tons, who along with other family members created KopFrut Diber 2012. In 2015, after a fruitful cooperation the Department of Agriculture Dibra, with the technical assistance of ADAD/FERT and the fundings of Albanian Government, ARDA (IPARD-like) we installed the fruits processing line, an important investment for Dibra, and for all Albania.
I and a group of orchards in Dibra have benefited too much from ADAD Malore such as new techniques in fruit growing, direct assistance in the field, taken part in training in the country and France, where we are already well trained to serve as Arboriculture specialist for our orchard. Our results are the result of our participation and support from ADAD/FERT, so I tell to farmers in Dibra and beyond, that the organization and participation in ADAD Malore is in our interest to improve on-farm activities and to increase our income. Also our organization in ADAD Malore allows us to play the role and to defend our interests, to better serve ourselves and all producers in the country.