Organic apple growing in Kosovo and Albania-a survey of the current situation and possibilities for improvement

In 2008 and 2009, a survey on the situation of organic apple production in Kosovo and Albania was conducted in order to obtain information that is necessary to develop a profitable and sustainable production in the countries of Southeastern Europe. In both countries, the natural conditions for apple cultivation are good, when it is mainly based on small orchards, limited capital investment possibilities and the absence of collective marketing. Under the current competitive market situation, the development of a new profile based on high-quality organic apple production with an appropriate marketing strategy may be a practicable option for small farmers, which also makes sense in environmental and economic terms. The interviews conducted with 10 Albanian and 12 Kosovar farmers, representing the vast majority of producers in the respective countries who had already been working or tending to convert to organic apple production, pointed out that while pest pressure is comparable, farmers lack knowledge about prevention techniques and access to important plant protection agents, as well as new apple scab-resistant cultivars. The motivation to convert to organic production in these countries is low, because of poor governmental support, scarce education and demand from consumers. In order to improve organic apple production in these and other Southeastern European countries with similar structure, environment and economy, such as Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania and Bulgaria, there is a need for pilot orchards for research and the demonstration of appropriate rootstocks and cultivars, soil management and plant protection techniques. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.