«Eco Berry»

Helps small farmers

Eco Berry, a farm in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, owns 130 hectares of berry fields and buys wild and garden berries from small farmers for freezing. The farm provides small farmers with technological maps, advice from agronomists and equipment maintenance engineers.

Confidence in the quality of the processed berry products is very important for the company. And Eco Berry is ready to spend money on this.

“Our agronomy department helps farmers, so we know what products and technologies they grow,” said Igor Kniazevych, “For example, we now fully control the process of purchasing planting material from partner farms, control the growing process from planting to harvesting, and take full responsibility for it. And it is in our interest that the cooperation is legally enshrined. We are already working on setting up a cooperative”

According to the head of Eco Berry, small farms are provided with technological maps, advice from agronomists and equipment maintenance engineers.

“It is very important for small producers that we provide them with sales at higher and more stable prices. When prices drop in the high season, such support helps them survive. For example, this year the price of garden strawberries dropped to 15 UAH/kg, while we bought them all season at 25 UAH/kg,” emphasized Igor Knyazevich.

Interview for: agrotimes.ua