Agricultural production in Serbia this year will have a growth of more than five percent, compared to 2019, and its share in the gross domestic product (GDP) will be higher than nine percent, said the Minister of Agriculture of Serbia, Branislav Nedimovic.
“We will have a serious growth of over five percent, and that will now be a share of 9.7, or 9.8 percent in relation to the entire GDP of the country. But the corn harvest is not over yet, and I can already say that we have almost 10% better yield than we had in previous years,” Nedimovic told RTS.
He also specified that at this moment, the yields of corn are 30 percent higher than the ten-year average, while the yield of soybeans is 60 percent higher, denying the controversy in the media regarding that data.
He added that the food industry should be dominant in relation to agriculture in the final production, ie that agricultural production should be used as a resource for upgrading and added value in the food industry.
Nedimovic reminded that the problem of the company “Budimke” was solved, that now “Porecje-Vucje” got new owners from Bojnik and Leskovac, and announced that sectoral problems of the south of Serbia, such as “Merosina”, one of the biggest, would be solved.
The Minister of Agriculture also announced incentives, ie non-refundable funds in the new package of measures for young farmers.
“We have seen that young people want to work. We especially insist on helping livestock, vegetables and fruit growing, because these are the three branches of agriculture where you need physical strength,” he said.
He reminded that in 2017, when the program was first launched, 667 young farmers received money, a year after that more than 1,100 of them, and last year almost 4,500 young people applied for those funds.
Nedimovic expects that the ranking list will be published next week and that he will receive those incentive funds for the first time from 2,300 to 2,500.
“The maximum amount of non-refundable funds is 12 thousand euros,” he said.
Nedimovic pointed out that the project will be continued next year, as well as that the ministry will ask for help from the American development agency DFC.
“With the help of 15,000 euros, two hectares of cloud cherries can be raised with a complete irrigation system. If they want a faster profit, they can buy 30-40 sheep or fatteners that have a good price on the market,” the minister pointed out.
He also announced solving the problem of small pensions of farmers, which, as he emphasized, no one has dealt with since 1986.
“You cannot pay the same contributions on one and one hundred hectares of land,” Nedimovic believes.
He stated that he discussed the problem with the Prime Minister of Serbia and the Minister of Finance a few days ago, and on that occasion he will have meetings with representatives of the World Bank, and he will also talk with the International Monetary Fund.
“In the next few months, we will present a proposed solution for all agricultural pensioners. It cannot be a situation that from 258 million euros, which is allocated for agricultural pensions, 240 million euros will be from the state budget, and the rest will be from contributions. This is not a normal situation and that is why you cannot expect pensions to be higher,” the minister specified.
Nedimovic said that farmers pay contributions of 15 to 17 years on average, which is why their pensions amount to a little over 100 euros.
“Such a classification must be made, the more you pay, the more pension you can have. That is the only rational thing,” he concluded, N1 reports.
