Experts say that if the plants were cultivated instead of being picked wild as they have been so far, the harvest could be increased as much as six fold
TIRANA, March 25 – Albania’s exports of medicinal plants, one of the country’s top agriculture products, continued increasing even in 2014.
Data published by the country’s state statistical institute, INSTAT, shows exports of “oil seeds, industrial and medicinal plants and straw” within which medicinal plants accounts for the overwhelming majority, rose to a record high of 12,894 tonnes, worth 3.68 billion lek (Euro 25.8 million) in 2014, up from 12,262 tonnes worth 3.55 billion lek (Euro 24.9 million) in 2013.
Back in 2013, exports of medicinal plants climbed by 27 percent to (Euro 23.4 billion lek), almost the same to exports of canned fish, which leads Albanian agricultural exports, according to an annual report published by the Agriculture Ministry.
Exports of medicinal plants continued their upward trend in 2012 when they rose to 2.6 billion lek (Euro 18.5 million) on higher volume of exports. Albania exported 9,776 tonnes of medicinal plants in 2012, up from 8,780 in 2011.
Previous data from an annual 2010 report by the Agriculture Ministry show most medicinal plants are exported to Germany, the U.S., Turkey and Switzerland.
In communist times, Albania earned about 50 million US dollars a year exporting medicinal herbs, and the sector employed roughly 100,000 people. Experts say that if the plants were cultivated instead of being picked wild as they have been so far, the harvest could be increased as much as six fold.
Today, Albania accounts 51 organic operators, 662 hectares under organic cultivation and 330,677 hectares certified organic wild collection, says the Swiss Cooperation which is assisting Albania develop organic agriculture. More than 90 percent of all the organic certified products are wild collection herbs and medicinal plants. The organic products of wild species, herbs, essential oils, mushrooms, chestnuts, olives and olive oil are exported to EU, North America, Switzerland, South East of Europe and Turkey.
