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The cultivation of strawberries remains a lucrative business for farmers in Albania. The production of strawberries in the country, mainly in the Fier and Lushnja areas, is growing year after year along with the increased demand in the domestic market and for the export of this product.
Strawberry once a market supplied almost 90% of imports, has since 2014 been transformed into an export potential to EU countries.According to the figures of 2015 and 2016, Albanian straw exports are 10-fold, in weight and value. The main trading partners remain regional ones, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia. While in 2016 Italy, Romania, Bulgaria have also been added in the export list.
According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the planted area has also increased in 2018. The amount produced has been doubled from 2016 to 2018, reaching over 4,000 tons.
The growth of production at these rates is reflected in the domestic market at a low price. One kilogram of strawberries, unlike other years, in April, you can find in the market of Tirana one kilos of strawberries costing only 200-250 ($ 1.5 or $ 2).
Data from the Ministry of Agriculture show that in 2016, the area planted with strawberries was 91 hectares. While in 2018, the planted area is concentrated in the Fier area, reaching 111 hectares, with a slight increase of 5.5%.