Albanian Farmers Focus on Breed Improvement and Honey Production

TIRANA, June 22

Farming in Albania falls under the primary sectors of the economy. The data released by the Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) confirm this fact. This sector took a positive turn during the recent years and it is changing toward an entrepreneurial approach. Albanian farmers focused on breed improvement through artificial insemination.
Hence, it was noticed that the number of dairy cows and chicken decreased respectively with 3,000 heads of cows and 1,855,000 heads of chicken during the last three years while milk and egg production remained the same. This means that efficiency increased by two percent in cows and 38 percent in chicken.
Regarding chicken, the increase may be higher given the considerable number of broiler chickens that are raised for meat production.

Photo via INSTAT
In the meantime, livestock figures increased significantly. Hence, wool production increased by 330 tons and meat production increased by 1,000 tons more.
Further on, INSTAT data show that one of the most important development during this period was the increased number of bee hives. By the end of 2016, there were 303,000 bee hives. Meanwhile, in the end of 2014 Albanian beekeepers counted a total of 261,000 bee hives.
This indicator along with honey production figures confirm that honey is one of the main farm products measured in tons. Honey production increased by 25 percent. The average price for one ton of honey is $2,500. Thus, annual incomes from honey reached $9.8 million. Most of the honey bee colonies are found in Korca, Durres, and in the southeastern region.

News Source: INSTAT

Photo Credit: Mjalte Morava