Up to eur 300 per acre yield in the cultivation of quinoa

The unknown, until recently, quinoa enters in the kitchen of the Greeks, and enters in the list of promising alternative crops in our country…
The about food of the future and is considered to be a substitute for the cereals, because the seeds have starch. According to experts, the quinoa can be grown in Greece and to give a satisfactory income in the range of 250-300 euros per acre.
Indicative of the importance of quinoa as a crop is that the World’s Food and Agriculture Organisation considers it as one of the crops to secure food in the 21st century.
The output can reach to 200-250 pounds of the crown and in accordance with the agronomist Cassander Γάτσιο the price of organically produced fruit of the quinoa in France ranges from 4-6 euro a kilo, while the corresponding price of non-organic moves in the levels of 2,5-3 euros a kilo. Based on these data, can the quinoa be grown in Greece and to give a satisfactory income in the range of 250-300 euros per acre.
The quinoa -it mentions in the “Professional Opportunities” the agronomist Cassander Γάτσιος – is a herbaceous-ημιξυλώδες plant very resistant to drought, which originates from the Andes in South America. It was known to the Incas and Aztecs about 4,000 years ago, was considered a sacred plant, the cultivated and used as staple food, because the quinoa is rich in protein and quality excels that of wheat as food.
It is a new and unknown in Greece, an annual crop, cultivated for seed as food and the leaves, which are edible and are consumed as salads and in cooking like spinach. It is a plant related to spinach, beetroot etc. This plant is not a cereal, but it is considered “a substitute for wheat”, because the seeds have starch, such as grains, and are mainly consumed after they become flour.
Today, the primary countries in the cultivation-production of quinoa is in America, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Asia, India, and Pakistan, and in Europe Denmark, England, Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy and France. In Europe, the experimental cultivation of quinoa started in the 1970s in England and Sweden and 1990 in Denmark, Italy and the Netherlands. The resistance of quinoa to drought due to this deep and extensive root system.
Propagated by seed sown directly in the field in the spring. Grows after 3-10 days, when the temperature is around 15 oc. It takes about 60 days to bloom and 100 to 150 days to collect the seeds, depending on variety and cultivation practices and conditions.
The quinoa can be grown from coastal areas to high altitudes that reach up to 4,000 meters.
In Greece, in experimental crops of quinoa, the results were very encouraging in soils of average composition. It grows at temperatures from -3 ° c to 35 ° c, while a few varieties can withstand even lower temperatures.
The quinoa compared with wheat and other cereals has a higher protein content that reaches 14-21,9 %. The high content of protein of quinoa in essential amino acids making it the only plant food that meets the specifications of FAO for human consumption.
It is also a source rich in more minerals that are considered essential for human health. It is one of the few foods that -in contrast with the wheat and the other cereals do not contain gluten. The absence of gluten allows the use of and by people allergic to gluten.
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