“Bullari Natural Farm” in the village of Mollas, municipality of Cerrik, central Albania, is a success story in the field of Albanian agribusiness, a farm launched hard working Bullari brothers. After years of hard work and dedication, Bullari brothers turns around 250 hectares of barren land into a fertile soil building among others a plantation with diverse fruit trees, including nut trees, almonds, hazelnut and pomegranate trees. Most recently, they have expanded their plantations with kiwi trees. Thanks to financial support from government through the Agricultural and Rural Development Agency, the closed-cycle farm has expanded its range of products to include dairy and livestock products sold at the market shops bearing same name.

Prime Minister Edi Rama visited the new kiwi plantation of Bullari Natural Farm today. The kiwi plantation had the first production season and the locally-grown kiwi was welcomed by domestic market.

“Shkelqim is the farm entrepreneur and he has done almost everything himself,” Socialist MP Taulant Balla said as he introduced one of Bullari brothers. “Shkelqim actually owns 250 hectares of plantations with fruit trees mainly including nuts, a very good fruit that had first production season this year. These plantations also include pomegranate trees, hazelnut, and fig, cherry and almond trees. The two brothers have created the closed-cycle farm by including also a farm of cows, sheep, and goats, dairy products processing and the sale of these products in the supermarket chain they own. We will be visiting a part of the plantation with kiwi trees. One of the kiwi trees produces around 300 kilos,” Balla said.

The Director of the Agricultural and Rural Development Agency Frida Krifca said that Bullari brothers are one of the applicants for funding under the second call of IPARD Program to support project designed to expand the area of orchard plantation. They have also benefited support under the national program to support livestock development. ARDA Director Krifca noted that this year’s national support program for agriculture received a record number of a total of 7532 online applications.

“The two brothers have applied at the second call of the IPARD Program. Their application was not for this farm, which they have funded totally themselves, or the livestock farm for which they have received financial support under the previous national agriculture support programs. They have applied for funds under IPARD Program to launch a plantation farm of almond trees with a total surface of 32 hectares. The application is being evaluated. What I would like to say, since we are here today, is that the national agriculture support program for 2020 ended on Friday and we have received a total of 7532 applications. This is a record figure! Entire application processes have been carried online with farmers having to submit no document of whatsoever. The list of winning applicants will be announced in next 10 days, including the required documentation they should provide regarding the land ownership issues or if any of them has to settle the social insurance contributions. We are obliged to unveil the winners list by July 3. Farmers will then have to hand over the required documents in 10 days. Once this process completes, ARDA will verify the situation on the ground and will then disburse funds. Our goal is that farmers develop capacities to absorb 100 percent of the fund. The number of applications is actually very high and the demand for funding is higher than the allocated funds. Therefore, we will lobby the government in order to increase its funds and meet the farmers’ needs,” Krifca said.

ARDA Director also announced that the third call for applications will be launched in the fall. “In the meantime, we are moving ahead with contracts under the second call of IPARD Program. There are currently 129 contracts worth 43 million euros for ongoing investments under the IPARD Program. We will launch third call in the fall, as we are racing against time in our efforts to make sure that the funds are totally absorbed by the Albanian farmers. We are moving ahead at a very fast pace. Our offices have been always open. We have disbursed payments and the calls as part of the national agriculture support scheme have been launched online.”

The farm currently employs 40 workers and it hires as many as 150 seasonal workers in fruit harvesting and collecting. Entrepreneur Shkelqim Bullari said that their farm products are highly sought by the domestic market and the entire produce of this year have been already sold. “This is the fifth year since this plantation and trees were planted and this is the first production season. Therefore we should have to wait until we produce enough fruits for exports. Last year we had a total of 135 quintals of fruits that were immediately sold in the domestic market. Before we decide which trees to plant we analyze the market needs and demand and we found out that domestic market needs to meet demand for kiwi, nuts and almonds. We have high expectations that once we meet local market needs, we will start exporting our products.’

Prime Minister Edi Rama reiterated his government readiness to support farmers all over the country, noting that the state budget funding for the country’s agriculture sector this year was the highest ever allocated by any Albanian administration. “What is important today is that financial sources are not lacking.” “The state budget combined with the financing that Albania receives from the European support program, is the largest amount that agriculture has ever seen in all these years. However, everything should take place based on projects as a guarantee for the wished success. Money has not been short, but what was really lacking for several years was a critical pool of visionary people in agriculture that are able to present projects rather that a sack of tomatoes and potatoes for sale. The applications of the National Scheme this year are an encouraging sign not so much for the amount in proportion to the needs but for the number of online applications. To those know- all of Tirana and Facebook who say that the peasants do not know to use the internet, do not know to user Iphone, or technology, the truth is that people living off work will always find the ways and avenues to expand their business. What we need right now is more closed-cycle manufacturing and processing activities. In fact, agro-processing has seen an increase in exports, another proof of this transformation,” PM Rama said.