This year, Serbia will also have sufficient quantities of wheat for domestic needs, and exporters also expect solid earnings. About 700,000 hectares were sown with wheat, the same as in previous years, and the harvest was approximately 3.2 million tons.
Of those quantities, about 1.5 million tons are enough for domestic needs, about 1.2 million tons are exported, and the rest is intended for the country’s commodity reserves. Agroeconomist Milan Prostran says that most wheat is exported to neighboring countries, and the plan is to reach consumers in the countries of the Middle and Far East, primarily in North Africa.
“Our ambitions are to export at least a million tons via the Danube through the port of Kostanay and to transfer them to large ships, trans-oceanic, to some distant countries. There were negotiations with Egypt for export, that is, some closer countries than distant China , but of course a million tons is not a small amount for China. Considering that they have leased ports in Greece, there could be some arrangement, so export to China is quite realistic for some future time,” Prostran said.
Serbia generally does not import wheat seeds because it has two leading institutes for this cereal – one in Novi Sad, the other smaller one in Kragujevac. Their experts are working to increase the yields, which are now on average between 4.5 and five tons per hectare, while in developed countries they are from eight to 10 tons.
If those yields were reached, the arable land in Serbia sown with wheat would be reduced to an optimal 400,000 hectares. “Wheat remains our very important product. In the structure of all grains, wheat makes up almost more than 40 percent,” said Prostran.
The state subsidizes wheat production by helping farmers with reduced prices for seeds, fuel and fertilizers. If there were no such subsidies, many would give up sowing “bread grain” because production costs would be 50 to 100 percent higher.
Sign up for business updates & specials.
