Due to extremely unfavorable weather conditions, which decimated the vegetable crops, the season is uncertain for both producers and consumers. The bad situation in agriculture could be reflected in the shortage of goods, but also the rise in prices, which are dictated by import costs and a bad season for domestic producers. What kind of autumn awaits us?
September is traditionally the time of preparation and purchase of winter food. However, this year the number of jars will be determined by the price of vegetables, which is already significantly higher compared to the same period last year. The lack of raw materials leads to increased imports, and the free formation of prices, as is the case in our market, inevitably leads to the fact that only importers and resellers rub their palms with satisfaction.
“Vegetables will de facto be missing, let’s just see what their prices will be until the end.” When you go to the mall, you can only see watermelon, and it’s a luxury, it’s not something you can’t live without. There are no onions, no potatoes, no strategic crops, which will have to be imported,” says producer Mladen Lazić.
“There will be a shortage of food, because you see around the country, some are caught up in the war, some are affected by other things, but basically I think that as citizens we will have problems with food and everything else, because we can only produce 32% of the needs for the needs of Bosnia and Herzegovina , the rest is imported. And now we will import 95%”, says Savo Bakajlić, president of the Association of Agricultural Producers of Semberija and Majevica.
And while resellers are counting their profits, citizens are counting change in their wallets and calculating what they will give up today. There are no usual crowds at the markets. And there is no established “bulk” purchase either. It is difficult for the goods to reach the customer, and it is even more difficult to sell them.
Producers state that they could produce much more if the agricultural conditions in the country were more favorable and domestic production was protected. This way, they say, they are only at a loss.
“Someone sowed, for example, wheat, which is 25 marks, and the fertilizer was 150 marks, that is a pure loss. Plant 10 hectares of wheat and lose 7,000 BAM. “It’s a little better on vegetables, but the situation is generally difficult,” Lazić points out.
“This is an unfair attitude towards farmers, consumers and all other citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but everyone is silent,” says Bakajlić.
“The government has led us into great economic trouble, and this is now showing in the rise in prices. “The people don’t like bad news and try to defend themselves by not recognizing it, however, economic laws are inexorable and all this economic evil that the government has done so far is coming to pay,” emphasizes economic analyst Aleksa Milojević.
Processors are also in trouble, as they fear that there will not be enough fruit and vegetables to purchase on the domestic market, and it is already certain that buyers can expect higher prices for ready-made winter vegetables in the fall.
