Hoghilag Tuberose, first Romanian flower with Protected Geographical Indication

The tuberose from the village of Hoghilag (central Sibiu County) will be the first flower in Romania and the third flower in the European Union which will receive from the European Commission the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) certification, and flower enthusiasts can enjoy it at the end of the week, when in Hoghilag will be a Tuberose Celebration, the mayor Nicu Lazar announced in a press conference, on Tuesday. "At Hoghilag tuberoses have been cultivated since the inter-war period. But the Saxons were the ones who cultivated them exclusively, commercially, and they were very strict in preserving the seeding material. After the Revolution, when there was an exodus of Saxons to Germany, it is said that one of the last Saxons from the town went to a Romanian, gave him a bag of bulbs and told him: "Here's a fistful of dirt or a ball of gold! It all depends on you!". And, obviously, for the townspeople of Hoghilag who knew to continue this cultivating tradition further, it was a ball of gold," the mayor of Hoghilag, Nicu Lazar, declared. According to mayor Lazar, in 2018, the Hoghilag small town was declared an "area with tourist resources", due to the tuberoses and the multitude of cultural events that take place here, most of them tied to cultivating tuberoses. "I had the pleasure of signing, as Minister of Tourism, the documentation through which the PSD (Social Democratic Party) Government, at that time, added Hoghilag on the list of tourist resources areas, through an Emergency Ordinance. Entering that "list of infrastructure projects with tourism, technical, and environment protection specific for tourist resources areas", Hoghilag, much like the other communities that are on that list, could be promoted with priority, through the national, regional and county development plans. And, in the end, many projects left from Hoghilag to the Government for financing these areas with an enormous tourism potential," deputy Bogdan Trif, leader of PSD Sibiu, specified during a press conference, on Tuesday. The advantages for producers, after receiving the PGI certification, are multiple: from European level notoriety, to dedicated national and European financing methods. All these add value to the community, but also economic, cultural and tourist development. "Tuberoses are also cultivated in other parts of the country, but tuberoses that are cultivated in Hoghilag are special. They have a certain smell, much stronger and much more enjoyable than the ones cultivated in other areas, and the flowers are smaller. The characteristics of the area determine the flower's particularities. What's certain is that the Hoghilag tuberose is unique, which is why it will receive this PGI certificate," Nicu Lazar concluded. There are approximately 40 tuberose cultivators in Hoghilag, half of them intensely cultivating the plant, in commercial purposes, and the rest as a hobby and decorative purpose. Every year, approximately 200,000 tuberoses are being cultivated in Hoghilag, in gardens and protected areas, according to the data communicated by mayor Nicu Lazar.AGERPRES(RO - author: Isabela Paulescu, editor: Karina Olteanu; EN - author: Catalin Cristian Trandafir, editor: Maria Voican)

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