The Minister of Agriculture, Branislav Nedimović, stated today that Serbia exported food worth more than five billion dollars this year, which is the highest in history.
“I expect that the results in the next year will be even better, because food will still be important in the post-covid period,” said Nedimović.
He pointed out that the ministry is trying to bring as many young people as possible to agriculture and to give good subsidies for startups in agriculture.
This year, the state identified 1,350 hectares of abandoned land, and the minister says that the land is being leased through electronic auctions.
“I watched the electronic auction in Vrsac, where the state did very well. The land was leased at prices ranging from 300 to 1.00 euros per hectare in a year. In another municipality, all plots were issued at a price of 500 to 600 euros per hectare per year. It doesn’t pay people, they wouldn’t pay that much rent,” concludes Nedimović.
He adds that there is obviously money in agriculture and that there will be more because food, as he said, will be more and more important and more expensive.
“This is especially true for wheat, corn, soybean meal and all other cereals,” Nedimović pointed out.
He says that his ministry is completely ready for the “Open Balkans” and the placement of food within that initiative.
“When the borders in the phytosanitary system are broken, only the sky is the limit in terms of food. Our goal is to increase food trade between these three countries to 420 million and a billion dollars in the next year,” Nedimovic said, RTV reports.
