Serbia exports raspberries in record value: Quantity is smaller, but price on world markets is rising

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"Data covering the first seven months of this year shows that Serbia has exported raspberries worth almost 300 million euros, which is about 50 million euros more than last year," says the advisor to the minister of agriculture, Goran Djakovic.

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On the other hand, he says, the quantities we are exporting are decreasing, so last year at this time Serbia had already sold 66,000 tons of raspberries abroad, while this year the number is 44,000 tons.

"This indicates how high the price is on world markets, but also that the living standard is falling globally since less is being bought. But I assume that this (remaining) export will certainly be realized in the coming period, because the New Year holidays are also coming, when exports are higher and when the results are even better," says Djakovic and adds that exports and growth are also noted in vegetable production.

"The price of potatoes has increased the most, but that was expected, because we had a big drought during the year, a drop in production due to a slightly lower price from the previous year, which caused the price of potatoes to rise," the adviser to the minister points out, further noting that this means there will be "motivation for producers in the coming years."

Therefore, farmers are investing in the production of potatoes, and as for sunflower and other grains, which are in short supply around the world, Djakovic notes that Serbia "has no problem at all."

"We have all types of grains sufficient for our needs, of course, we don't count rice here, because we don't grow it. Rice must be imported. When it comes to sunflower, wheat, corn, soy, we will have enough of all of those," stressed Djakovic.

"I expect that prices will be stable in the coming period. Of course, the increase in the price of fuel, fertilizers and everything else has caused growth and that had to follow the price of grain, but on the other hand, we must keep in mind that we will also have good export results, because it is not our price that has gone up, instead prices rise on world markets. Effectively, what they call imported inflation is represented in our country as well," he said.

When asked about fertilizer shortages around the world and whether such problems await Serbia, Djakovic says that we are "lucky that we managed to secure sufficient quantities of fertilizers for the upcoming sowing season."

(Telegraf Biznis/Tanjug)