Did FBiH get 15,000 new farmers or budget consumers?

(Patria) - Compared to the initially planned 500 thousand KM for support in co-financing various production start-up programs, incentives for spring and autumn sowing, an additional nine million marks have been secured for farmers in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

However, farmers are protesting the way these funds will be distributed, as the number of farmers in the Federation of BiH has also sharply increased with the announcement of incentive programs. Therefore, the question arises, did the Federation of BiH get 15,000 new farmers, or budget consumers?

In last year's report, we dealt with the growing number of closed agricultural farms. At that time, almost 90 percent of the fields in Mihaljevac near Cazin were uncultivated. Today, the situation is significantly different. Only a few fields are uncultivated. This was largely influenced by the coronavirus epidemic and the intention of the federal authorities to help farmers.

"Agricultural farms have indeed increased, because they received free fuel, seeds, fertilizer, and protective agents," says Ahmet Lipović, president of the "Krajina" Cazin Farmers' Association.

With the announcement of the Federal Ministry's incentive implementation program, the number of registered agricultural farms has sharply increased. From 2,700 to 17,000 registered clients engaged in agricultural production in the Federation of BiH. This brings us to the question – has the Federation of BiH become richer by 15,000 agricultural producers or 15,000 new beneficiaries of funds?

"There are really only 2,700 who are professionally engaged and who live from their work. These new 15,000 who have newly registered will only take money from the budget. The state will not benefit from them either. They will only have a few rows of onions, potatoes, and a little corn planted. Some have already sold or given away seeds," says Ermin Veladžić, president of the Association of Milk and Meat Producers of USK, BHRT reports.

"The distribution should not be realistic if someone who planted a few dunams, someone who planted a few hectares, or someone who planted a few hundred hectares receives a thousand marks each. These are costs that are enormously high and different," says Ahmet Lipović, president of the "Krajina" Cazin Farmers' Association.

Any support that comes is welcome, say the farmers. However, for a farmer like Ahmet Lipović, who invested about 11,000 marks in corn this year, a thousand marks in aid will not mean much. Therefore, the old Krajina farmers offer a solution.

"The best solution is that these nine and a half million marks, which is 12 percent of the budget for 2020 – be distributed to all productions. That producers receive an additional 12 percent on all their productions. That is the best, most realistic, and most effective," says Ermin Veladžić, president of the Association of Milk and Meat Producers of USK.

In addition to this, farmers throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina are in a difficult situation due to the current circumstances caused by the coronavirus. They have been producing all along, but had nowhere to sell their products.

"We are directly linked to caterers and tourism, and the demand for our production has abnormally decreased," says Dragan Pavlović, president of the Peasant Alliance of the Federation of BiH.

"It is necessary to conduct analyses and pay special attention to rural development measures, i.e., support for processing capacities, because even if we have 50 percent more production of sensitive agricultural products, it is very important how we can react to create processing production and turn it into food products that have a much longer shelf life," says Sanela Klarić, Committee for Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of FBiH.

Starting next week, regular thematic sessions of the Agriculture Committee of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH will be held, where farmers, representatives of the Ministry, and agricultural experts should jointly adopt measures to improve the situation in agriculture.