Rich
\nin vitamins, above the usual standard of the local fruits, resistant to
\nvariations in temperature and suitable for ecological cultivation since they
\nhave no pests, the exotic fruits have been gaining ground on Romanian
\nterritory.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I found out the story of several such sorts
\nfrom Florin Stanica, a teacher of pomiculture with the Horticulture Faculty as
\npart of the University of Agronomical Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in
\nBucharest. The story begins in 1992, when a university team went to the University
\nof Perugia in Italy, via a Tempus program, where they studied the kiwi,
\nnoticing its has development conditions which are similar to the peach tree.
\nAnd that is how the idea occurred to pilot the cultivation in Ostrov, on the
\nbanks of the river Danube, where conditions are perfect for the peach tree, but
\nalso for vine growing.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Florin
\nStanica:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Easier said than done. In 1993, in spring, we had a cultivation, with the
\nsupport of Ostrov IAS, of two kiwi hectares. Concurrently, from Italy, we
\nbrought more than hybrids of Actinidia Arguta, which is the Kiwi berry or baby
\nkiwi, a species of kiwi which is much more resistant to freezing than the peach
\ntree, so it can be cultivated even in the areas of the plumtree cultivation.
\nSince 1993, practically, with the Faculty of Horticulture in Bucharest, among
\nother activities, we have carried a survey on the possibility of
\nacclimatization of the kiwi species. Because there are three species we are interested
\nin, food-wise, the kiwi with trichome, familiar to everybody on the market,
\nkiwi with yellow pulp and the kiwi which is frost-resistant. All along we have
\nsucceeded to see how to multiply the kiwi plants, to see what the cultivation
\ntechnologies are and, through selection works, we succeeded to certify two
\nRomanian sorts, the result of the Romanian-Italian cooperation, which were
\nregistered with the EU under the name of Vip Green and Vip Red, two sorts of
\nfrost-resistant kiwi, with green and red fruits..<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We found
\nout that for almost 10 years now, selection works have been conducted as
\nregards the hybrids between the kiwi with yellow pulp and the kiwi with green
\npulp, with four very interesting selections existing already, with big fruit,
\nwith special tasty qualities, with a great preservation capacity, likely to be
\nhomologated in the near future. Professor Florin Stanica once again.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kiwi can be cultivated in Romania. There is a rather limited area
\nsuitable for the cultivation of big-fruit kiwi, I ‘m speaking about the areas
\nfavoring the cultivation of the peach tree, the southern and the western part
\nof the county, but we also have quite generous possibilities for the
\ncultivation of the resistant species, that is the baby kiwi or kiwi berry,
\nwhich can be cultivated in almost all Romanian orchard areas. It takes a little
\nbit of courage on the part of the cultivators.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u00ab Simina \u00bb
\nis another species recommended by professor Florin Stanica, for which
\nhomologation is in progress. It can be cultivated with no problem, there where
\nwinter temperature readings do not exceed 25 degrees below zero, with no
\nspecial treatment needed.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As I was in Italy, of course I found out about another cultivation, known
\nas Asimina Triloba. In the year 2000 I also brought to Romania the first sorts
\nof northern banana or pawpaw, a plant originating from the eastern side of
\nNorth America, so it s frost-resistant, it can resist to temperature readings
\nof minus 25 degrees which yields some
\nextraordinary fruit, of about the size of a mango, it just that they have brown
\nseeds on the inside, double-filed. The pulp of the fruit is creamy, it can be
\nserved with the teaspoon, it has the taste of vanilla cream when the fruit is
\nripe, it has a specific scent and a specific flavor when the fruit has been
\nfreshly plucked. After that, the taste evolves to caramel cream if it is kept
\nin the fridge for about ten days. And after three weeks, the taste evolves to
\ncoffee cream. So here we have a special fruit. No phytosanitary treatment is needed in this case, the plant is very resistant and very beautiful,
\ndecoratively, it has big leaves, the flowers are beautiful. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We
\nfound out these fruits have a very high percentage of minerals. In terms of potassium
\npercentage, the fruit I second only to the Guava fruit. In fact, on Romanian
\nterritory, the species was brought to Pianu Nou, Alba County, in 1926, by the
\nfamily of Suciu Ioan, Transylvanian
\nmigrants who returned from Ohio. Another special species Florin Stanica
\nmentioned was the jujuba or the Dobrogea date tree.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It can be found in Dobrogea, in Ostrov, nearby the former fortress of
\nDurostorum, lying in Silistra in Bulgaria, but we also found plant species of
\nDobrogea date in Jurilovca, nearby the fortress of Argamum or in Mahmudia, near
\nthe fortress of Salsovia. These plant species are always found nearby former
\nRoman or Greek settlements. But we know they were rough to Europe some time
\nduring emperor Octavianus Augustus’s reign. The plants on our territory yield
\nsmaller fruit, the size of a grape, with no special taste qualities.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
About
\nthem, we found out they have a special ecological adaptability, being resistant
\nto temperature readings ranging from 40 degrees below zero to 40 degrees
\nCelsius, they prefer areas in southern Romania being very resistant to drought.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cultivations of exotic fruits in southern Romania<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":136406,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42520],"tags":[43283,43282,43284,43281],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-136405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inside-romania","tag-cultivation","tag-kiwi","tag-pawpaw","tag-pomiculture"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n