A hectare of land in Vojvodina costs the same as an apartment in Belgrade! 15 years ago, 5,000 euros was enough

What did the agriculture census show?

According to the first results of the agricultural census from 2023 published by the Republic Institute of Statistics, available agricultural land is 4,073,703 hectares, used agricultural land is 3,257,100 hectares, while 122,257 hectares of unused agricultural land.

Agroeconomist Milan Prostran says that agricultural land is available for 11 years reduced by 1.2 million hectares, that is, 23.81 percent.

He explains that a large part of those 1.2 million hectares is how much available land has been reduced used for infrastructure facilities for the past 11 years, such as highways and construction facilities.

How much is the quality of the soil at risk?

Bojan Stanić from the Serbian Chamber of Commerce says that Serbia, as a country with recognized comparative advantages in agricultural production, shapes its potential based on objective factors.

– Counting on Vojvodina, Mačva and Pomoravlje, as well as other plain and hilly regions, Serbia it has a large area of ​​high-quality arable landbut that the land loses its fertility over time – said Stanić.

Prostran believes that the attitude towards agricultural land in Serbia is not that of a household, first of all by the state, which owns more than 700,000 hectares, and then in general due to various problems, high prices, production costs, lack of irrigation systems, decline in animal husbandry.

– The quality of our land, which was otherwise one of the most valued in this part of Europe, is seriously threatened. We have Vojvodina, which was the most fertile, but that humus, which is a sign of soil quality, has decreased from five percent to 2.5 percent. The highest quality part, the humus part of the land, which until 20-30 years ago was five percent, has now decreased to around 2-2.5 percent – says Prostran.

What are the critical points

Prostran believes that after the census of agriculture in 2023, certain detailed studies should be carried out in order to see where those critical points are until the end when it comes to agriculture in Serbia in general.

– In my opinion, nothing has drastically improved compared to 2012. Critical points remained critical points, first from the agricultural land, which is badly used, razed, fertility decreases, then through agricultural and livestock production – he stated.

Stanić states that a major drawback is the fragmentation of agricultural holdings, which have problems with productivity, but also with irrigation, protection from disasters and animal and plant diseases.

(Euronews)