BFC. Agriculture Finance Bulletin.
maximum amount of up to EUR 1 million for energy efficiency projects and up to EUR 3 million for renewable energy projects.
12) Trial agricultural census conducted June 4th, 2020, http://www.stips.minpolj.gov.rs/srl/vest/probni-popis-poljoprivrede-od-12-do-19-juna
As part of the preparations for the upcoming Census of Agriculture 2021, the state statistics office conducted a trial census between June 12 and June 19. The goal of the pilot was to test the overall methodology of the census as well as that of a specially-designed app for entering and sending data to a centralized location for processing. The implementation of the Census of Agriculture 2021 is necessary to ensure continuity in the production of structural data in the field of agriculture. It is also in line with the World Agricultural Census 2020 Program of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which recommends that all countries conduct the census between 2016 and 2025 in accordance with specific guidelines.
Private Sector 13) Unused resources could be tapped for mushroom production June 18th, 2020, https://beta.rs/ekonomija/ekonomija-srbija/
The Minister of Regional Development announced that investing in mushroom production in Serbia could be a profitable business opportunity, especially as the country has unused resources that could be utilized in this direction. The Minister also noted that world markets, especially European ones, give the sector excellent export opportunities, especially if products are dehydrated for an extended shelf life. Exports of mushrooms in recent years have been relatively strong and vastly outpace imports by nearly 75 times; however, most of the exports are collected from nature. It is important to note that some experts are more cautious than the Minister, citing that past success from mushrooms collected from nature does not necessarily predict performance from farms. At the same time, other experts believe that mushroom farming in Serbia could amount to profits of more than EUR 40 per square meter. Those interested in investing in mushroom production are encouraged to form cooperatives and seek support under the state-run 500 Cooperatives in 500 Villages program, which has funds available for such projects as well as technical assistance available on forming/joining cooperatives and starting a successful mushroom production center.
14) Only one in five tractors are “new� in Serbia June 11th, 2020, http://www.stips.minpolj.gov.rs/srl/vest/u-srbiji-tek-svaki-peti-traktor-nov
There are currently approximately 400,000 tractors operating in Serbia, but only about one in five of those can be considered as new. Most of the newer tractors were purchased under the Ministry of Agriculture’s subsidy program and/or utilizing IPARD pre-accession funds. On average, most agricultural machinery currently in use in Serbia is more than 30 years old, a problem that has been prolonged due to state decisions (e.g. changes to the Law on Road Traffic Safety) that allow older machinery to remain legally operational. Experts claim that, without these changes, more than 60% of agricultural machinery would not pass technical inspections.
Page 5
