In this interview, Valentin Popa, the owner of a bio-mushroom farm in Romania, talks about his farm and the challenges of growing organic mushrooms in Romania in interview with Maksym Yenchenko. He started the farm in 2015 after accessing EU funds and presented the project to the EU commission for funding. It took him almost four years to complete the project, and the farm has been operational for around three years.
Valentin notes that the market for bio-mushrooms is not significant in Romania, and the farm is currently losing money. However, they hope to turn things around by exporting to bigger and wealthier markets. Valentin explains that they only grow bio oyster mushrooms and that the legislation in Romania does not permit growing conventional mushrooms in the same place as bio-mushrooms.
The farm grows mushrooms organically without using chemicals, and Valentin notes that their compost is organic, and they conduct regular analysis on each tunnel and harvest. Despite the challenges, Valentin remains optimistic about the future of the farm.
