First Specialized Seedling Producer Opens in Kosovo

21.06.2019
Prishtina, 21 June 2019 – Today, Agrobora company inaugurated the first specialized seedling producer in Kosovo. This new seedling facility is an important achievement for creating a sustainable production of seedlings in the country and continued expansion of the contracted farming system, which increases the financial security of farmers.

To construct the new specialized seedling facility, Agrobora has acquired modern equipment, including irrigation system, greenhouse heating, ventilation system, incubator heater and solar energy system. 

Addressing the farmers and other guests at the inaugurantion ceremony, the owner of Agrbora Flamur Syla said that “our mission is to provide healthy vegetable seedlings for the farmers in Kosovo, and become a model of business endeavours in agribusiness growth”. 

The new specialized seedling facility is co-financed by Agrobora and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), through the Promoting Private Sector Employment (PPSE) project. Speaking at the ceremony, SDC representative Katrin Ochsenbein highlighted that “The innovation that we are introducing today, precisely contributes to contract farming, as it provides good reliable inputs from the very beginning. The impact of the specialized technology is seen in superior quality of seedlings. It is expected that by using specialized seedling, the yield will increase substantially.”

In the context of Kosovo, the seedling production technology that Agrobora now has operational is a revolution in many levels. This technology challenges the traditional method of seedling production that has a very high risk of failure or of resulting in unhealthy seedlings; farmers can plan these seedlings 2-3 weeks in advance, and hit the market earlier, while increasing the yield by at least 30%. 

The Syla family has started the agriculture business and production of seedlings in 1980, and this new facility operates in line with European standards. The goal of PPSE is to increase the employment for young women and men through small and medium enterprises. PPSE is implemented by Swisscontact and Riinvest Institute