Crimea plans 2023 grape harvest at same level as last year

ROSTOV-ON-DON. Aug 24 (Interfax) - Grape harvesting from an area of 16,800 hectares has started in Crimea, the press service of the Crimean Ministry of Agriculture said.

"This season, we expect a grape harvest the same size as last year's. The most common of the technical varieties cultivated by viticulture enterprises on the peninsula are Rkatsiteli, Aligote, Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and many others," Crimea's Minister of Agriculture Andrei Savchuk said in the release.

The republic's farmers harvested 130,000 tonnes of grapes in 2022, which is 6% more than the 123,000 tonnes harvested in 2021, he said. Average yield last year was more than 80 c/ha.

Wine products in Crimea are currently produced by 30 enterprises, 26 of which have their own raw material base.

State support for winegrowers in Crimea allows for the annual planting of nearly 1,000 hectares of new vineyards, and the purchase of machinery and equipment needed to do the work, the report says.

"Last year, for example, five beneficiaries were reimbursed for the purchase of viticulture machinery and equipment. The state assistance allowed 32 farms to buy and plant more than 1,200 hectares of vineyards with domestic seedlings, install a trellis and do all the required agricultural work," the minister said.

Nurseries for grape vine rootstock have been planted in the republic so that wine growers can purchase domestic seedlings, Savchuk said.