December 26 2007, 11:36

CIS nuts business to gather in Kyiv on the 31st of January 2008

Ukraine is the large producer of walnut - at the same time, actually the country doesn't have a single hectare of walnut commercial orchards. In the time of former USSR this crop was considered to be ornamental rather than commercial. At the same time, the interest to large-scale walnut production is very high in Ukraine, because this nut enjoys stable demand both on the inner market and abroad. Also, hazelnut may be successfully grown in Ukraine - now large volumes of this nut are imported by confectionary and snacks industry, as well as almond and other types of nuts.

Right now Ukraine actively exports walnut to Georgia and some other countries. However, the harvesting and post harvest handling of this nut is a very expensive process, because very small shipments of walnut are purchased from the local population. There is almost no chance to provide the uniform quality and safety of walnut supplied for the processing. This fact presses the prices down.

Despite of all the mentioned obstacles, walnut production is a very profitable business even for the local population, because the prices for this product are steadily high. Moreover, the prices have been tending to increase in the recent years. To the experts' opinion, the commercial walnut production may be a very profitable business if quality seedlings are used and modern technologies are applied. The farmers of the southern regions of the country also actively test the production of almond and hazelnut.

Taking into account the increased interest to nuts production in Ukraine, "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" project made the decision to conduct the first international nuts forum in Kyiv on January 31st 2008. The topics of the selection and purchase of the grafted nuts seedlings, production technologies, post harvest handling and sales channels will be discussed during the forum. In response to the initiative of several companies, the question of the creation of National Association of Nuts Business of Ukraine is included to the program of the event.

As of today, the prospective investors, farmers, the largest producers and suppliers of nuts seedlings, large wholesale companies - the exporters and importers of nuts from Ukraine, Moldova, France and Georgia have confirmed the participation in the forum. The application form for the participation in the forum is here.