Serbia harvest news: Raspberry, wheat, sugar beet

Sugar beet producers hope for a good year

Due to the state subsidy of almost €300 per hectare and a good contractual position with the companies operating in the sugar industry, Serbian farmers have sown sugar beet on 42.000 hectares which is a 30% larger area than the year before. The crop in the field, according to farmers, is in good shape. "Sugar beet looks great. Now we are entering a critical period, where at least two to three days of rainfall are needed for the crop to stay in such excellent condition” says Marko Gagic, a farmer from the village Dobrinci to Vojvodina national broadcaster RTV. Last year, the average yield was about 50 t/ha and the total production was about 1.6 million tons

Unsatisfied raspberry farmers threaten to halt the harvest

The president of the Association of Raspberry Producers of Serbia, Dobrivoje Radovic stated on behalf of  berry producers, he would ask the raspberries buyers / traders (mostly cold storage owners) to announce the final purchase price and payment conditions, otherwise he would ask farmers to suspend the harvest. He told Beta news agency that he was pleased with the engagement of the Ministry of Agriculture, which has engaged all kinds of field inspection controls. The inspectors will also determine export price of raspberries. "Traders claim that the export price of raspberries is €1.7 to 1.8/kg and they can offer €1.15 to 2.1/kg to local producers. The highest price was offered by several of the biggest buyers but 80% of buyers are offering the minimum price," Radovic explained. He added that the Ministry of Agriculture promised to introduce levies (taxes) on raspberry imports because traders imported this fruit from Ukraine and Poland and mixed it with higher quality Serbian raspberries, so an "artificial" surplus appeared on the market. This year there will be 40 percent less raspberries than last year since the stormy weather in western Serbia destroyed the crop, explained Mr. Radovic. "The producer price of raspberries is €3 per kilogram, pickers can harvest about 25 kilograms a day, which is €75, and the daily compensation per worker is 34 EUR (without food). When other production costs are calculated, it does not pay off for farmers to harvest the berries at all" said Radovic.

As recently announced in Poland, the biggest competitor of Serbia in berry production, the Polish fruit growers are complaining about the very low purchase price of raspberries, which is €1.12. The Agricultural Advisory Center Mazoviecki calculated that the production price of one kilogram of raspberries costs €1.67, which includes daily fee for harvesters. They believe that the reason for such a bad situation is the abolition of tariffs on food products coming from Ukraine, including berry fruit.

Half of grain buyers gone due to export ban

Serbia lost 40% of international grain buyers due to last year's export ban, like the Italian market, which was among the most important ones, stated Radoslav Adamovic, a representative of the “Initiative Save the Agriculture”. This spring additional problems for Serbian farmers were weather conditions, which have prolonged the maturation period of grains and prevented spraying against diseases. This will definitely have a negative impact on yields. Another concern for Serbian grain producers was the high prices of inputs they paid last autumn. Most farmers purchased mineral fertilizers in November 2022, when the price was very high. “We had to purchase fertilizers at that high price because there were rumors of shortages. We had the most expensive production, and the prices (of the final product) are poor," Adamovic said. "The price of grain in the world has decreased. The port of Constanta (Romania), which is crucial for Serbian grain exports, is flooded with cheap wheat," explained Adamovic and reports Nova Ekonomija  

In order to help farmers and ease the market situation, the Government of Serbia decided to approve purchase of 200.000 tons of mercantile wheat, from the current harvest, at a price of €0.21 plus VAT.  The wheat will be purchased by the state Commodity Reserve Directorate via Commodity Auction in Novi Sad. Priority will have individual farmers (registered farms) with maximum quantities of 100 tons  and a minimum 10 tons of wheat purchase per farm, , stated the Ministry of Agriculture.

How to make more use of IPARD funds

The panel discussion at the agribusiness conference “Grow Up - Power of Soil" organized by the Ministry of Agriculture last month, the fact that only 14% of Serbian farmers took loans for financing of their agricultural activities was highlighted. Most farmers rely on their savings, state subsidies, and financing from cooperatives. Bank loans constitute less than 10% of the funding for the agricultural sector, which has an estimated annual investment and working capital of around €2.5 billion. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Water Management has a budget exceeding one billion euros, with a significant portion allocated to incentives in agriculture and rural development. The upcoming IPARD-3 programme, with a potential investment value of €580 million, presents challenges for farmers to effectively utilize the funds. Efforts are being made to address the challenges associated with the IPARD programme and provide advance payments to users. The aim is to streamline the process in the IPARD-3 programme to support farmers.

Additionally, the Serbian government is working towards aligning with EU requirements in domains of agriculture, rural development, food safety, and fisheries. The country has opened negotiation Chapter 13 related to fishery policy and aims to fulfil the criteria for Chapter 11 (agriculture and rural development) and Chapter 12 (food safety, veterinary, and phytosanitary policies). The goal is to prepare all necessary documents and send them to the European Commission by the end of the year, daily Politika reports.

Economic activities generated 174.7 million tons of waste last year

Economic activities in Serbia generated 174.7 million tons of waste last year, which represents an increase of 149.4% compared to the previous year. The most waste was created in mining – 94.4%, the Statistical Office of Serbia published last week. In that sector also the largest growth in waste production was recorded in relation to 2021, by 177.1%. The second sector that produced the most waste last year was electricity production with 3.7%, followed by manufacturing, water supply, construction, agriculture and service activities. In total, 174.3 million tons of waste were treated, whereby 6.8% more waste was recycled compared to the previous year. After mining, the highest growth in waste production was recorded in the water supply & wastewater management sector (40.8%), followed by construction with a growth of 11.9%, and the service sector with a growth of 8.4%. Waste from the  agriculture, forestry & fisheries sector grewm by 3%. On the other hand, the manufacturing industry recorded a drop in waste generation of 28.8%, the supply of electricity, gas & steam a drop of 10%.

770.000 tons of food is wasted or lost in Serbia annually, thereby causing serious environmental problems while socio-economic development potentials are missed out on.  About 90% of the total waste still ends up in the landfills, wasting valuable resources despite resource scarcity and poverty in the country.

Inflation in Serbia higher than in EU in April-May

Serbian y-o-y inflation was higher compared to the EU average in April-May and at the same time lower compared to two EU member states in April and lower than in one EU member state in May, reports the latest issue of the “MAT economic monthly”, a publication of the Belgrade Institute of Economics and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia. According to the concept of the harmonized index of consumer prices, Serbian inflation was 14.8 pct in April and 14.5 percent in May, compared to 8.1 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively, in the EU. Two EU member states registered higher y-o-y inflation than Serbia in April - Latvia (15 percent) and Hungary (24.5 percent), and Hungary also saw higher inflation in May (21.9 percent).