Profitable return to the roots - Opportunities for development of bio-organic farming in Serbia

Source: eKapija Tuesday, 12.10.2010. 16:21
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Although the presence of the organic food production in Serbia has been growing over the past few years, the consumers' awareness of the significance of use of these groceries has not been developed yet. For all those engaged in the organic production and those who would like to learn more about organic food, first international organic agriculture fair BioBalkan will be held at the Belgrade Fair from September 29 to October 2.

The organizer is A&L Expo and the event is expected to gather about 60 exhibitors from the country, as well as from Austria, Netherlands, Italy, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Organic agriculture in Serbia

Serbian manufacturers of organic fruits, vegetables, cereals, milk and meat are mainly selling their products at green markets or to supermarkets, but over 90% of the organic food manufacturers export their products to the EU, the USA, and Japan.

When all the regulations pursuant to the Law on Organic Production, which will be brought in accord with the EU regulations, be adopted prior to 2011, it is expected that there will be even more surfaces used for organic farming.

About 0.3% of all cultivable surfaces in Serbia are used for organic farming, while that share in Europe amounts to 24%, most of which in Spain and Italy (over million hectares). According to the data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, 50,000 ha should be used for organic farming prior to 2014, while the Ministry's long-term ambitions are that the organic farming be organized on 600,000 ha.

(Branko Cicic)

- According to some researches, 80% of all cultivable surfaces in Serbia may be used for the organic production. Serbia is predestined for such form of agriculture. Primarily because the organic production is brought in connection with the multifunctional character of agriculture. That concerns not only the production for the market, but such form of production also enables preservation of villages, tradition, folk culture, old crafts, development of rural tourism of special type, that is, ecological tourism - Branko Cicic, the President of Organska Srbija (Organic Serbia) Fund, explains the indirect advantages of organic agriculture for eKapija.

New regulations from 2011

The consumers' underdeveloped awareness, the underdeveloped market, low demand and low standard of the population, high prices of control and certification, lack of funds for protection of herbs... These are only some of the numerous problems the manufacturers in this field of agriculture are facing.

Branka Lazic, a professor at the Faculty of Agriculture in Novi Sad, is of the opinion that the organic farming could have not progressed at faster pace, primarily due to lack of regulations that are brought in accord with the EU standards, but also because the state was not granting incentives to manufacturers.

- Organic farming in Serbia is developing at the pace enabled by the legislation. If we take in consideration that the Law on Organic Production, which is in accordance with the EU, was adopted in May 2010 and that by-laws still need to be adopted, we can say that the organic farming is progressing very well – Branka Lazic told eKapija.

She points out that much more areas will be used for the organic production already next year because many manufacturers have entered the process of conversion from conventional agriculture to organic farming.

The exact number of organic food manufacturers and the size of agricultural surfaces used for organic production in our country are unknown because certifications are also carried out by the organizations that are not authorized by the Ministry of Agriculture.

This year, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Power Engineering authorized eight certification organizations: SGS Belgrade, Evrocert Belgrade, Organic Contol System Subotica, Bioagricerta Belgrade, Jugoinspekt Belgrade, Pancert Novi Sad, Ekocert Balkan Belgrade, Suolo Salute Balkan Belgrade.

Organic product

According to the Law on Organic Production, a certified organic product is marked by the "organic product" sign, the code of the authorized organization, and the national sign.

The food manufacturers by the principles of organic agriculture does not contain any artificially synthesized matters, even pesticides. It ensures a greater nutritional value of the products. The researches in Germany have showed that these products have a significantly higher contents of oligo-minerals, especially potassium and iron, as well as higher level of magnesium, phosphorus and vitamin C. Similar results were obtained in the USA, where it was determined that these products have 63% more potassium, 73% more iron, and 125% more calcium than the agricultural products produced in a conventional way.

- Literally everything that is required for the nutrition of the population is produced in Serbia nowadays - all types of vegetables, and the number of organically produced fruits has also been growing lately. If each agricultural manufacturer started producing food organically, the number of ill people in Serbia would probably be cut in half. As far as economic effect is concerned, that would reflect in huge savings from health insurance, while, on the other hand, big agricultural farms would offer such products with higher value to the global market. Serbia's annual incomes from the conventional production amount to 600 million euros. With the organic production, that surplus would be bigger because the price of organic products is 20-30% higher – says Branko Cicic.

The President of Organska Srbija Fund says that Vojvodina and Sumadija have the biggest surface of cultivable areas used for organic product, but he also adds that that type of agriculture is more and more present in western and southern Serbia. He states that a good example is Bora Jovic's vineyard plantation that was planted last year on 40 ha on Stara Planina mountain.

Andrija Vozar and his family in Kisac near Novi Sad has been engaged in the organic production of vegetables for 21 years.

- We now have 16 ha of certified surfaces and we plan to expand the production to 20 ha next year. In addition to vegetables that can be constantly found at green markets, we also introduce new species every year – Andrija Vozar told eKapija.

The vegetables of this manufacturer can be found at Kalenic market in Belgrade, three green markets in Novi Sad, as well as in Univerexport supermarket in Belgrade and 11 markets of this market chain in Vojvodina. Vozar announces the export of vegetables to the French market next year.

As people at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce announced, there are about 80 registered organic food manufacturers in Serbia. Some of them are: Zdravo Organic Selenca, Foodland, Royal Eco Food, Sirogojno Company, Zadrugar, Radoslovi Nis, Mondi, ITM, Andrija Vozar, Josip Mamuzovic, Hemel, Midi Organic, Biofarma, Agrounik, BMD, Suncokret, Biosil.

State's incentives

- According to the Regulation on use of incentives for supporting organic production development for year 2010, incentives from the budget can be granted to physical persons and economic subjects, as well as farms with minimum 0.2 ha for crop and vegetable production and with 0.3 ha for fruit and vine production – Slavica Stevanetic, an adviser in the SCC Association for Agriculture, told eKapija.

She says that the manufacturers whose production is certified by unauthorized certification organizations are unable to exercise the right to budget incentives.

The state's incentives for crop production (cereals, industrial herbs, medicinal and aromatic herbs) and vegetable production amount to 25,000 and 35,000 dinars, respectively (minimum 0.2 ha), and 45,000 dinars for fruit and vine production (minimum 0.3 ha). For a support to the development of organic cattle production, the state grants 15,000 dinars per head of cattle (minimum four), 5,000 dinars per head of flock (minimum ten), 500 dinars per unit of poultry (minimum 100) and 2,000 dinars per hive (minimum 30).

Stevanetic points out that a series of by-laws are expected to be adopted in Serbia, which will enable the creation of an organic seed exchange.

Experts claim that Serbia has the conditions for organic agriculture, but the only question is whether we will use these capacities. On the level of the state, it is a matter of the development strategy, on the level of manufacturers, it is a matter of the personal decision, while on the level of consumers, it is the question of whether they want to eat healthy food.

S.O.

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