Farmers who are members of seven farming associations that signed an agreement with the Government of Serbia in May of this year on the demands regarding the recovery of the country’s agricultural sector, will make a decision on their next move as their demands have only been partially met.
The president of the Association of Farmers’ Associations of Banat, Dragan Kleut, said that the farmers are in a catastrophic financial situation because the prices of wheat and maize in Serbia are significantly lower than on the stock exchange in Budapest.
In Serbia, maize is sold at 25 dinars per kilogramme and wheat at 16 dinars while at the Budapest Stock Exchange, their prices are 27 and 20 dinars per kilogramme respectively.
“The Serbian market is closed. Someone is making a huge profit from this price difference while farmers cannot cover their basic production costs,” said Kleut.
The agreement between the farmers and the line Ministry was signed in May, after several days of farmers blocking roads with their agricultural machinery. The agreement foresees an analysis of the grain market and the elimination of excise duty on so-called blue diesel, an increase in subsidies per hectare of arable land from 9,000 to 18,000 dinars, subsidies for arable land that spans up to 100 hectares and the abolition of drainage fees in 2024. Some of the demands, such as milk premiums and subsidies per head of cattle, have been met.
Kleut also said that the agreed subsidies of 18,000 dinars per hectare have not yet been paid and that the farmers are now demanding subsidies to be equivalent to EUR 300 per hectare of land instead of the agreed 18,000 per hectare.
“The costs of growing maize per one hectare of land range between 175,000 to 180,000 dinars and this cannot be compensated even if the harvest is the best ever when the buy-up price is only 16 dinars per kilogramme,” said the President of the Independent Association of Farmers of Serbia, Jovica Jakšić.
According to him, instead of the preferential price of 179 dinars per litre, farmers pay diesel at the full price of 211 dinars.
(Biznis.rs, 26.09.2023)