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A few years ago the number of those who decided to invest in a snail farm increased significantly under the “lure” of a profitable business.
But along the way not a few were those who were disappointed by abandoning it as an activity and today the cultivated quantity remains modest. Official data from the Ministry of Agriculture show that the number of farms is already less than five and is declining while exports are around 400 tonnes.
“Snail cultivation is mainly export-oriented. The country is producing 400 tonnes of snails. There are few farmers who cultivate snails and it is sold at a price of 4 euros per kg. The yield is 12 tons per ha. The operators are from Durrës and Fieri. Although snail production has some by-products, most are fresh snails. Currently, cultivation is almost non-existent “, it is said in the document of the Ministry.
According to the same study the snail market is mainly oriented towards the export of wild harvest while the cultivation is currently followed by two operators. The market has an approximate value of 400 thousand euros that is exported. In terms of volume, export value is stagnant. The main part of the export is towards the cosmetics industry while another part of the production is also sold in the domestic market. Most restaurants have their purchases directly for snails that are not cultivated but collected in nature. There is no domestic market today for snails for non-food purposes.
“Snail cultivation needs refrigerators, nets and structures for farms, small machinery for soil preparation. However, in recent years a large part of the sector operators have closed their activity and the number of farms has been reduced from more than 10 to less than 5 ”the document says.
The poor performance without any interest in the snail market has led experts to suggest that if there will be support measures snail cultivation should not be part of it.
The document clarifies that in the case of snails little investment is required in addition to support with capacity building and market information. Sustained growth in management capacity and technical knowledge is also required, as well as support for increasing market access./Monitor
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