It is estimated that the wheat yield in the RS this year will be around 4,5 tons per hectare, which is a record in this past decade, when it previously did not exceed 3,9 tons, said the Secretary of the Association for Agriculture of the RS Chamber of Commerce Slavko Stevanović.
He said that this rise in yields stopped the years-long decline that was present in the RS and is therefore significant.
“In order to produce more, manufacturers have to know what kind of conditions of purchase there are before they begin planting, which is not the case now, because purchase is always a problem’’, said Stevanović.
In the RS this year, 42.000 hectares of wheat have been planted and it is expected that there will be a total genus of about 160.000 tons, and a market excess of 35.000-40.000 tons.
Stevanović said that for the needs of the RS, 220.000 tons of wheat have been estimated a year, so that around 30.000 tons of marketable surpluses would be purchased and the rest of the farmers would use it for their own purposes, for food service through milling and animal feed.
When it comes to the price and purchase of wheat, millers and farmers in the RS are close to an agreement, and by all accounts, it should cost from 0,34 to 0,45 KM per kilogram.
Stevanović explained that mills could purchase wheat at prevailing market prices, which are estimated at 0,30 to 0,35 KM, and as opposed to the production rates of about 0,45 KM it must be reimbursed by the state, any recourse before sowing or premium or purchase of grain.
Stojan Marinković, the President of the Association of Agricultural Producers and Farmers of the RS, said that the expected wheat yields is about five tons, and in some places higher.
“This year was fruitful and favorable for grain, so it is an excellent yield. Only if there would be a lot of rainfall and if the harvest would not be able to finish, this would destroy it’’, said Marinković.
Ostoja Nikolić, the President of the Association for Agricultural Producers of Semberija, said that local producers are in a very bad situation because they still do not known the total price of wheat, even though the harvest is at their doorstep.
“Harvesting should start every day, but we do not know what the price will be, and what to do with it when we remove it from the ground. The RS did not do anything on this issue and the price of wheat has been left to the mercy of the market competition’’, said Nikolić.
He said that the RS should bring in a support price of wheat, which should not be lower than 0,45 KM per kilogram.
Zoran Kos, the President of the Association of Millers of the RS, said that they still do not know exactly what the price of wheat will be because stock markets have not yet formed a price.
“In Serbia these days it is speculated that the price could range from 20-25 dinars per kilogram, which is around 0,34 KM, and it will probably be that way here too. We will see how the prices will be formed in the surroundings, but I think it will not exceed 200 euros per ton’’, thinks Kos.
Njego Zagorac, a miller from Bijeljina, said that he is not familiar with the price of wheat this year, but that this grain will be of excellent quality, which was not the case last year.
According to available information, it is estimated that the total price of wheat in Serbia could be 0,35 KM, and 0,36 in Hungary.
(Source: ekapija.com)
