Consumers in EU countries spend much more on organic food than those of Serbia. Serbian news portal AgroNews reported that, in Europe, the average consumption in this category is around €50 per capita, while in some countries, such as the Netherlands, it can reach €300. In Serbia, the average consumption of organic food is €2.4 per capita.
Professor Dr Branislav Vlahović from the Faculty of Agriculture in Novi Sad says Serbia should increase the area used in organic production. There are now 24,000 hectares of farmland used for organic production in Serbia. According to Vlahović, one can perceive this figure in two ways: "Compared to the previous years, this is a significant increase. The area dedicated to organic production in 2015 amounted to around 15,000 hectares, which means that there has been an increase. That is good. But on the other hand, if Serbia would like to compare itself with the surrounding countries and the countries in the region, that surfaces under organic production are still small.”
Dr. Vlahović compares Serbia’s organic farmland size with that of the neighbors: “Slovenia has 50,000 ha of organic farmland, in Croatia this figure is 90,000 ha, in Hungary, around 300,000 ha, in Romania, it’s close to 400,000 ha."
The largest share in the production of organic food in Serbia is accounted for fruit and grape cultivation: approximately one-third.
Source: agroberichtenbuitenland.nl
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