According to the data from the Register of Agricultural Farms, milk production in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) has increased by 13 million liters in the last three years, so last year the production of 140 million liters of milk was reached. At the same time, the Tuzla Canton (TC) is experiencing a decline in milk production during this period, and farmers fear that this decline will continue this year.
Jasmin Palavric from Kiseljak near Tuzla has a family farm thatcurrently has twenty head of cattle. Given that the prices of fodder, fertilizers, and seeds have risen many times over, he shares the fear of farmers from TC that it will be difficult to maintain farms this year.
“Many will close them down, and we will also do it. I will say specifically for myself, I am someone who loves this and who lives agriculture, however, we are really put in a situation to think about what and how to do it. I think that only the state can take on a part of the burden, to compensate, that is, to increase the incentives, both for milk and for dairy cows, “ mentioned Jasmin Palavric, farmer, Kiseljak near Tuzla.
During the last ten years, the purchase price of milk for farmers in TC ranged from 50 to 60 pfennigs per liter, which farmers consider a very low price. Farmers are calling for an urgent response from the authorities and increased incentives to prevent farm closures.
“Autumn sowing is much less sown, we can say that there is about 50 percent less sown area. I have no doubt that this year will also bring us big problems with the increase in the price of raw materials, fuel, fertilizers, concentrated food, the number of heads will decrease, the number of sown areas will decrease and fewer and fewer people will work in agriculture, “ emphasized Eldin Glibanovic, President of the TC Dairy Group.
While milk production in the FBiH has increased by 13 million liters in the last three years, at the same time milk production in TC is constantly declining. Agricultural experts are calling for the reasons for this decline in milk production to be investigated.
Farmers in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce are asking the Cantonal Government to publicly announce all available state parcels of agricultural land this year and to allocate that land for use to farmers who have registered agricultural trades through a transparent process.
E.Dz.
Source: BHRT
