Employees of the StoneCastle vineyard in Rahovec/Orahovac prune table grapes trained to grow on new “Y”-shaped trellises. USAID’s international experts

USAID Helps Modernize Table Grape Industry, Catalyzing Exports

.Introduction of a “T”-style trellising system at StoneCastle improved grape quality and quantity.

The vineyard at StoneCastle, which USAID has supported to become Kosovo’s finest. New varieties,

technologies and practices put table grape industry on path

RAHOVEC/ORAHOVAC, Kosovo—USAID’s compre-hensive efforts to modernize the table grape in-dustry in this historically viticultural region have

A local expert engaged by USAID examines grapes for presence of insect pests.

paid off, with local growers signing a major export deal to supply markets in western Europe.

Zëri i Bujkut, a Rahovec-based association of grape growers, recently agreed to supply Kel-mendi GmbH with up to 7,000 tons of fresh table grapes, beginning with the fall 2014 harvest, said association president Habib Dina. The deal, signed in November, potentially covers the entire local harvest of quality table grapes. USAID’s New Opportunities for Agriculture (NOA) project helped broker the deal with Kelmendi, a food wholesaler with offices in Kosovo and Germany.

The export deal confirms the tremendous gains in the quality, quantity and overall marketability of the table grapes grown in Kosovo, thanks in large part to technical, cultural and other changes in-troduced by USAID with the assistance of the lo-cal municipality and producer’s association. These changes reflect internationally recognized best practices, and include the introduction of new and improved trellising, novel seedless and seeded grape varieties with proven market ap-peal and state-of-the-art canopy management, says Michael Kimes, USAID/NOA’s chief technical officer. This last practice includes advanced train-ing and pruning techniques taught by interna-tional and local experts.

The contract deal marks a significant move forward in the export-oriented development of Kosovo’s fresh fruit and vegetable industry. In Rahovec, for example, many of the vineyards traditionally produced wine grapes that often went unsold even on local markets. USAID’s interventions have included the commercial-scale regrafting of the region’s wine vines, converting them to produce table grapes. That conversion will allow local growers to better satisfy local demand for table grapes, replacing imports in the process, as well as opening new export markets.

Kelmendi, with the assistance of Kosovo’s Ministry of Agriculture, is currently constructing a large-scale packing facility in Peja/Pec, a little more than an hour’s drive from Rahovec. The facility will include modern forced-air cooling equipment for table grapes and other fresh fruits, increasing Kosovo’s capacity to export quality produce.

A local expert engaged by USAID examines grapes for presence of insect pests.