High temperatures and a low amount of precipitation have reflected on the agriculture in the FB&H as well. According to unofficial data, the yield losses amount to 30 – 50 percent.
The president of the Federation of Agriculture Associations of the FB&H Avdo Muslimovic said, unofficially, the damages in the FB&H amount to about 150 million BAM. The official data for this area should be available soon.
“We call on all institutions to provide us assistance in the attempt to remediate the damage, to prepare for the autumn at least”, said Muslimovic.
He stated that the assistance is needed in terms of seeds and fertilizers.
The entire crop production has suffered, and the damage is more evident where there is not enough water.
Muslimovic said that a part of agriculture could have been saved by irrigation, but given that there are insufficient amounts of water in some areas, the damage was inevitable. The Bosna – Podrinje Canton, Zenica – Doboj Canton and the Tuzla Canton have suffered the most damage.
The fruit growers are also suffering great damage, and according to estimations, losses of up to 50 percent are possible. They are seeking assistance as well, and the irrigation systems are a priority. They fear that the autumn harvest will be very poor.
The beekeepers have had a successful season. Large amounts of honey have been produced, but the problems are yet to come.
The president of the Una – Sana Canton Beekeepers Federation Assembly Remzija Hodzic said that the high temperatures caused the queen bees to stop bearing, and that will reflect on the strength of the bee company during autumn.
“The bees need to be fed now already, much earlier than usual, in order to maintain the litter in the bee community”, Hodzic pointed out.
The high temperatures accelerate the development of varroa, the number one problem of all the beekeepers in the world.
“Experienced beekeepers know what to do in order to save the season, but the problems are evident. We are lucky that the year was successful in terms of honey production”, Hodzic said.
(Source: klix.ba/ photo bhindex)