First swine artificial insemination center in Vojvodina in January 2010

- The first Swine Artificial Insemination Center in Vojvodina, worth about 120,000 EUR, will be put in operation in Vrbas in January 2010 - it was said yesterday (November 26, 2009) at the press conference in the premises of the Vojvodina Investment Promotion Fund.

Realization of the investment by the swine breeding company from German province of Baden-Wirtenberg was made possible thanks to the cooperation with the University of Hohenheim and the Novi Sad Faculty of Agriculture, with the expert support of VIP Fund.

- This investment is very significant for development of cattle breeding in Vojvodina and Serbia because it will contribute to quality development of cattle breeding, that is, pig breeding and competitive agriculture - said Branislav Bugarski, the CEO of VIP Fund.

The President of the Administrative Board of the Swine Artificial Insemination Center, Saša Stojiljković, said that about 40 boars of all breeds would be settled in the Center in the first phase and that their genetic material would be available to all farms in Serbia. The price of one dose of semen, as Stojiljković announced, will amount to about 5 EUR. Construction of new facilities in Vrbas in the near future is also in the pipeline, and that will make the capacity of the Center big enough for about 300 boars.

Docent at the Novi Sad Faculty of Agriculture, Ivan Radović, estimated that one quality boar can provide enough semen for annual production of 3,500 to 5,500 pigs with good genetic material. According to his words, the situation in pig breeding in Serbia is extremely bad and the opening of the Center will create conditions for more regular breeding structure and improvement of performances at local farms.

The facilities where boars will be kept and the laboratory of the Center in Vrbas will be equipped according to the standards that German pig breeding association "Saustark" applies in its headquarters in Baden-Wirtenberg, which is one of the largest and the most modern organization of the kind in Germany.