Over a million hectares of arable land in Bosnia and Herzegovina lie fallow

(Patria) - Arable land in Bosnia and Herzegovina awaits better days, experts say that more than 60 percent of arable land in our country is unused.

Agriculture is on its knees because it cannot compete with the import lobby. Everything and anything is imported, and the margins are quite high.

Farmers claim they can produce most of it and that it can be enough for the residents of BiH, but that it is not profitable for them given the fact that they cannot match the prices of importers.

Nedžad Bićo, president of the Association of Farmers of FBiH, points out to Faktor that the state has opted for imports.

- I say the state, because these are matters regulated by the Council of Ministers of BiH - says Bićo.

He claims that Bosnia and Herzegovina can produce everything its citizens need in sufficient quantities, as enough was produced in this area before.

The land lies fallow, uncultivated due to the state's neglect. There is no protection for domestic production, we have an open market, there is not enough support for agricultural production because we are not competitive, not even close to the countries in the region, let alone countries in the world - explains Bićo.

When asked what the state should do, Bićo says that it should protect the market, protect domestic farmers by introducing levies and customs duties on goods that are sufficiently available.

- Countries that import goods subsidize us for everything, even for everything they import - points out Bićo.

He says that there are approximately one million hectares of land in the country that was cultivated before the war, and is now uncultivated because a lot of it has been converted into construction land, and a good part is also under mines.

Stojan Marinković, president of agricultural producers from RS, points out to Faktor that they have been repeating for years that they cannot compete with importers, even though the state has been helping with incentives in recent years.

- We have incentives, investments have been made in agricultural production in recent years, but it is not enough for us to be competitive with importers. Our country is poor. We have a lot of arable land, we can produce a lot in sufficient quantities for the population of BiH, but not everything, of course - points out Marinković.