Farmers give up planting wheat, cause of major import from Serbia

Agriculture Ministry officials have said that each year these surfaces are shrinking due to low prices and large quantities of imports from Serbia.

Agriculture Policy Department Director Isuf Cikaqi told Kosovo that this year there are about 70 thousand hectares of wheat planted or 14,000 hectares less than last year.

According to him, the low price for wheat is affecting farmers to continue reducing the surfaces with this culture, but Chicago stressed that the possibility of increased support from the Ministry for Farmers should be seen in order to stimulate them.

The price for a kilogram of wheat produced in Kosovo costs from 0.10 to 0.14 cents.

Cicchi: There is no good price of wheat or market demand

Well, unfortunately, last year there was no good price of wheat, and there was no demand for the market... and we expected that there would be a drop in grain crops, so it happened... The Ministry of Agriculture has continued with support policies in the same direction, because it is not that the ministry sided with subsidies or grants. Even for this year, we have information that the stock market price is low and if this is repeated for several years normally that farmers will be lowering the surfaces, but the agriculture ministry may have to look at the possibility of increasing support for farmers not to give up this culture because it is strategic culture<1>, Cikaqi said.

He said that on the basis of the first analysis and samples from the ground, the average wheat productivity for this year is expected to be about 3,500kg per hectares.

Cicchi: This year's rankings will be around 3600-4600 per hectares

And according to the analysis that we've done to the grenade situation is enjoyable, there are parcels of very good ones, there are which are averages. But there are parcels that are weak with development... I don't expect low productivity, but I don't expect it to be a record - efficient record of over 4,500 pounds [4,600 kg]. I think it's going to be around 3600-4600. But it's early to talk. Last year it was 4140kg of average wheat productivity, which has been satisfactory productivity based on years of productivity in Kosovo”, Cikaqi stressed.

Cikaci has not indicated whether Kosovo can meet the demand with bread from the fields, since, according to him, they will eventually come up with a final report on wheat culture.

He added that according to the first samples, the quality of wheat is good, and the weight of grain this year is in saps of normal.

The chairman of the Agricultural Union Federation, Tahir Tahiri, says that according to reports from the field Kosovo does not have more than 50,000 hectares of white cereals.

He expects demand on the market with local production to be met no more than 20 per cent. Tahiri mentioned that at this season there will be even less productivity of poor quality wheat because of imported non-quality seeds.

Tahiri: Major imports from Serbia push farmers to give up wheat productivity

“are about 20-25 thousand hectares less planted, and this for us is extremely disturbing because in countries that Kosovo would have to increase surfaces and productivity to meet the needs of the wheat population and we are becoming dependent on imports every year... The unfair competition of the market is exactly the incorrect behaviour of our millers, when I say that I mean millers import wheat from Serbia at extremely low quality prices and state reserves. This wheat is how our merchants supply and satisfy Kosovo's needs with bread”, Tahiri stressed.

According to him, major wheat importers are contributing to lowering the price of local wheat, and this is causing Kosovo farmers to lack benefits, which cannot cover wheat productivity expenses.

Tahiri has also raised the issue of an outdated grain harvest machine, where he feels that there are huge losses of grain in the fields, and the average loss or spilling of grain is about 20 percent.