Serbia exported 2,701 tons of honey in 2020, and mostly to Italy, Norway and Germany, the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (SCC) announced today.
The value of exported honey is 13,096,000 euros, which is 46 percent more than in 2019.
Unlike in previous years, the import of honey is growing, so 548 tons of honey arrived in Serbia last year from Moldova, Ukraine, Greece and New Zealand.
“Increasing demand for honey opens up great opportunities for more serious development of beekeeping in Serbia. Indirect benefits of beekeeping in pollination of plants in fruit growing, vegetables, farming and others are of great importance for increasing yields and the ecosystem. Beekeeping technology continues to advance in Serbia which can be seen from the growth in the number of hives per farm, and in the export of honey to the payment markets,” they say in the Association for Livestock and Processing of Livestock Products PKS, it was reported in the announcement.
According to the Decree on the distribution of incentives in agriculture and rural development in 2021, incentives in the amount of 800 dinars per hive have been determined for all beekeepers.
Serbia has natural resources at its disposal, which are the basis for the development of beekeeping, which indicates huge potentials for further development of this economic activity, according to the Chamber of Commerce.
Since the establishment of the Group for beekeeping and honey production PKS in 2003, the growth of honey exports to EU countries has begun, and beekeeping and production of honey and other bee products are becoming more and more interesting economic activities.
They point out that, according to the data of the Veterinary Administration, 90 facilities for honey packaging have been registered in Serbia so far, and with the establishment and registration of facilities for honey export to EU countries (seven facilities have been registered so far), conditions for higher production and export have been met.
In 2019, Serbia had 977,000 hives, which is seven percent more than in 2018, according to the Republic Bureau of Statistics (SORS), and the beekeeping economy estimates that the number of hives will continue to grow.
They remind that the Group for beekeeping and honey production sent two initiatives to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management.
The first refers to the development of the Beekeeping Development Strategy and the establishment of the Institute of Beekeeping, and the second to the development of the Rulebook on bee venom, which would enable legal trade and export of this important product which is extremely expensive in foreign markets. In that way, beekeepers could overcome rainy years that are not favorable for collecting honey, it is stated in the announcement, Kurir reports.
