Tuesday, 27 July 2010

Twenty-Eighth Sitting of the Agriculture Committee

At the sitting held on 27 July, the Agriculture Committee considered the current conditions in the agricultural production in the Republic of Serbia; payment of subsidies and premiums to agricultural producers; buyout of the 2010 grain yield and the conditions of the field crops and flooded agricultural land.



At the sitting held on 27 July, the Agriculture Committee considered the current conditions in the agricultural production in the Republic of Serbia; payment of subsidies and premiums to agricultural producers; buyout of the 2010 grain yield and the conditions of the field crops and flooded agricultural land.

Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Sasa Dragin presented the Information on the current conditions in the agricultural production to the Committee members stressing that 500 000 hectares of bread wheat has been sown this year and that the average yield is 3.5 tons i.e. about 1 million 600 thousand tons of harvested wheat. The Ministry has done all in its power to make sure that the producers are protected in relation to the buyers by continuing the subsidies per hectare and recommending that the wheat be stored until it reaches an acceptable price. A system of full capacity public storage facilities has been organised currently amounting to 600 000 tons of grain products. The buyout price of wheat has risen from 8 RSD to 14 RSD with an upward trend in the upcoming period. In addition, the state has assisted the producers who had suffered damages from this year’s flood by, considering that 35 000 hectares of land had been struck by natural disasters, passing regulations that proscribe that every plot of land that has suffered more than 30% damages shall pay no land lease. The Ministry also provided subsidies for fertiliser, procurement of diesel fuel and crop insurance. Regarding wheat export prospects, Serbia is expected to have a 100 000 ton surplus for export in addition to the 1.5 million tons for its own needs and 400 000 tons for transitional needs. Neither the quality nor the quantity of the yield of other cultures have been endangered by floods. The yield has indeed fallen by 10 to 20 % but it is on the same level as previous years. The corn yield is good, as is the beets and fruit yield, the price of which has risen compared to last year. All the submitted petitions for subsidies per hectare have been realised by mid July, and the competitions for non-refundable funds according to European Union criteria have also been concluded. Producers are subsidised by 12 500 RSD per head of cattle, and the milk premiums for the first quarter have also been paid out. This year, the Ministry has supported bee production for the first time. Over 5 500 loan requests have been realised amounting to 3.5 million EUR and more than 80 local funds for the agricultural development of Serbia have been founded.

Following Minister Dragin’s exposition, the Agriculture Committee members and concerned deputies who attended the sittings posed several questions regarding the crop insurance, particularly drought and subterranean waters insurance, cattle breeding insurance, as well as about the interest of the agricultural producers themselves to insure their production. The debate also mentioned the loans for the agricultural production, the total of short and long-term loans and whether the budgetary allocations for the purpose are enough for the rest of the year. They also discussed the payment of subsidies, the number of farms using subsidies this year and the means to eradicate illegal imports of meat and milk.

Following the debate the Committee members accepted the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Information on the current conditions in the agricultural production in the Republic of Serbia with all the sub-items on the agenda.

The sitting was chaired by the Committee Chairman Zoran Masic.


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friday, 29 march
  • 9.00 - the National Assembly Speaker meets with the Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, Speaker’s Cabinet)

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