Representatives of Serbian Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection and 32 cooperatives and associations from South East and South West Serbia paid a three-day study visit to France with the support of the EU and the Government of Switzerland through the European PROGRES development programme.
In Paris, representatives of the French Ministry of Agriculture informed their Serbian counterparts and agricultural producers about how the Ministry stimulated French farmers to form associations, facilitated commercial networking and encouraged them to introduce new agro-technical measures.
During their stay in Bordeaux, Serbian delegation witnessed the practical application of such a form of agricultural production and exchanged views on best forms of agricultural associations with their EU hosts.
”We have seen examples of good practice of modern farmers associations. We have learned about the system of cooperatives and associations that can be beneficial for farmers in terms of production process or market placement, as well as about various types of state-offered incentives,” said Branislav Veljkovic of the Department for Rural Development of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection.
In Bordeaux, farmers from South East and South West of Serbia visited the National Association of Cooperatives, an organisation engaged in renting agricultural machinery out to its members. The organisation generates no profit and uses the money solely for the purpose of machinery maintenance. Also, the delegation visited agricultural high school Etienne Restat near Bordeaux which, apart from providing secondary education to young people aged 15-18, offers a possibility of mastering new agricultural techniques and technologies to adults.
Farmers were particularly interested in organic farming so they visited Interbio, an organisation with an annual turnover of EUR605 million which brings together 2 590 agricultural producers, 70 percent of whom are engaged in organic farming.
To Dusan Miladinovic, director of Oblacinska visnja cooperative from Merosina, the study visit to France was highly beneficial as the members of his cooperative intend to move to organic farming.
“We found the organic plum orchard the most interesting. There, we saw a simple fertilisation method using nitrogen feeding crops and beehives specially designed for pollination. Also, we had the opportunity to see a fruit dryer, very similar to the one we want to purchase for sour cherry drying in Merosina,“ Dusan Miladinovic said.
“The European Union and the Government of Switzerland have supported this activity designed to meet the key farmers’ needs: specialisation of primary production; product storage; better labour organisation; and improved market access,” said Bojan Marcic, European PROGRES municipal management programme associate.
These agricultural producers hailing from 34 municipalities included in the European PROGRES Programme have been selected within the first phase of the call for provision of support to agricultural producer groups for which the EU and the Government of Switzerland had allocated EUR80 000 for capacity building. Apart from the study visit, the producers have underwent training and had the opportunity to broaden their knowledge of the management of cooperatives and associations, finance and marketing. They also attended a special workshop dedicated to the presentation of the pre-accession assistance for rural development – IPARD.
The European Union and the Government of Switzerland will support the activities of the European PROGRESS programme, which contributes to the sustainable development of the South and South West Serbia, with a total of EUR24.46 million. Approved projects will be aimed at strengthening local administration, creating a favourable environment for the development of infrastructure and economy as well as improving the implementation of social inclusion and employment policy. The programme is implemented by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).
The municipalities included in the programme are as follows: Novi Pazar, Ivanjica, Nova Varos, Priboj, Prijepolje, Raska, Sjenica and Tutin in South West Serbia, as well as Prokuplje, Blace, Zitoradja, Kursumlija, Leskovac, Bojnik, Vlasotince, Lebane, Medvedja, Crna Trava, Vranje, Bosilegrad, Bujanovac, Vladicin Han, Presevo, Surdulica, Trgoviste, Brus, Aleksinac, Gadzin Han, Doljevac, Merosina, Svrljig, Babusnica, Bela Palanka and Knjazevac in South East Serbia.
