Velimir Stanojevic, State Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection, and Vesna Radojevic of the Agrarian Policy Sector, spoke about the Ministry’s strategic projects of fruit and vine production, while Dejan Tomic from Prokuplje spoke about the situation in the south of Serbia, from an advisory standpoint.

Subcommittee Chairman Milija Miletic said that fruit farms in Serbia cover 240,000 ha, while vineyards cover about 50,000 ha, 55% of the fruit farming land being in Sumadija. In 2016 Serbia exported 473 million USD worth of fruit, with the biggest problems in the field being the age of the fruit trees, some of them more than 20 years old, lack of certified planting material and high quality fruit, and bad climate protection against winter, drought and hail. Miletic called for raising the subsidies for fruit production in marginalized areas, commassation, and adoption of rulebooks, so as to encourage small farmers to plant and grow fruit.

State Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Velimir Stanojevic said that, as an agricultural branch, fruit farming is a big, yet underutilized developmental opportunity. Annually, Serbia produces 1.5 million tons of fruit, but fruit makes up only 20% of agricultural exports. Therefore the Ministry recognized the chief strategic question for the improvement of fruit production – division by crop area. He said that this type of division was completed for wine production in 2013, and in the coming three years fruit should undergo the same treatment so as to identify areas and subareas suitable for the cultivation of certain fruits. The project is to cover 170,000 ha of fruit farms growing 18 cultures, and the analysis would be completed by agricultural faculties and institutes in the country. This strategic document will be used to ascertain and allocate stimulus packages for certain cultures in certain areas, with a special focus on marginal areas, said Stanojevic. He also mentioned the budgetary allocations for agriculture, especially the subsidies for fruit production and production in underdeveloped areas.

Vesna Radojevic of the Agrarian Policy Sector spoke about fruit farming rulebooks and subsidies, while Dejan Tomic of Prokuplje advisory spoke about the situation in all five districts in southern Serbia concerning the cultivation of cherry, plum and berries, such as raspberry and blackberry.

The participants exchanged views on small allotments, subsidies for fruit farming mechanisation, purchase of high quality certified planting material, division into crop areas, organic farming, fuel contributions, export and placement of goods onto foreign markets, fresh fruit export, buyout and storage, etc.

Following the discussion, the Subcommittee unanimously concluded the following: to provide more production advisors for undeveloped areas, continue granting higher subsidies to undeveloped areas, increase land lease subsidies in undeveloped areas, simplify procedures for the issuance of licences and consent for well-digging on state-owned land, and to focus on expanding fruit storage capacities, development of the anti-hail network and the irrigation system.

Subcommittee Chairman Milija Miletic informed the members that the next sitting will focus on livestock breeding viz. sheep farming as a development potential for the least developed areas.

The sitting was chaired by Subcommittee Chairman Milija Miletic, and attended by Subcommittee members MA Marko Milenkovic and Dalibor Radicevic, as well as MP Prof. Dr Ljubisa Stojmirovic.