This year’s corn production in Serbia is expected to surpass 8 million tons, which exceeds the needs of the local market, said Vojislav Stankovic of the Centre for scientific research at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (PKS).
Corn consumption in Serbia, taking into account industrial processing, totals some 3 million tons at the most because livestock raising has reduced dramatically, Stankovic said.
“We cannot sell over 2 million tons of corn on foreign markets in the main export season,” Stankovic noted and added that “some 2 to 2.5 million tons of corn remain in stock every year.”
According to Stankovic, a great part of market surplus ends up used as energy source since storage conditions in Serbia are extremely poor.
Corn is the dominant grain in this year’s spring sowing period, and it is estimated that over 1.4 million hectares will be covered by corn, which should bring in some 8 million tons of crops, granted average yield, Stankovic specified.
Over the next years, corn production should be planned in keeping with the situation in the area of cattle raising, Stankovic pointed out in a statement for reporters during regional conference ‘Agribiz 2011 – Grow Your Business.’
Stankovic recalled that over 2 million hectares will be sown in this year’s spring sowing period.
The scope of plots under sugar beet is still stagnating and it has been totalling below 70.000 hectares annually for years now, Stankovic said. Stankovic recalled that 440.000 tons of sugar were produced in Serbia last year, while the needs of the local market total 100.000 tons on the annual level.
The plots of oilseed, soybean and sunflower are stable and total up to 200.000 hectares, Stankovic said.
Source economy.rs
