News

This year, through joint collaboration of the Serbian Investment and Export Promotion Agency (SIEPA), Ministry of Agriculture and the USAID Agribusiness Project, participation of 12 Serbian food producers at the Moscow Fair was made possible.

Serbian producers exhibited apples, fresh and frozen berry fruit, mushrooms, spices and various sauces. Over 500 contacts were made during the fair and the largest number of buyers and potential buyers were from Italy, the Netherlands, Argentina, Brazil, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other former Soviet republics.

The World Food Moscow Fair is the largest international event of this type in Russia and the country's market with over 143 million consumers offers tremendous opportunity for Serbian producers and exporters.

The USAID Agribusiness Project is currently in the process of organizing the next international food fair scheduled to take part in Paris at the end of October. For further information regarding the organization of fairs, kindly contact Ms. Tatjana Mrvaljevic, Marketing and Export Advisor.

Earlier this year, the AIC applied for a grant for the center's laboratory ISO 17025 certification facilitation in order to strengthen the capacity of the laboratory to provide certified water and soil testing necessary for all farmers participating in the GlobalGAP certification - a main precondition for export of fresh fruits and vegetables to the European Union.

The Agricultural Innovation Center (AIC) in Arilje was established in 2006 through a private-public partnership led by Arilje Municipality and today it is a modern regional agribusiness development service (ABDS) provider introducing a new approach in providing and managing agricultural advisory services.

It is estimated that over 1,000 farmers and at least 10 producer organizations will benefit form the Laboratory Certification and it is hoped that as a result of this at least another 50 producers will implement the GlobalGAP standard, and 200 farmers will be made eligible to access the Government of Serbia subsidized funding.

Financial assistance provided by the Project enabled the City of Nis to upscale the Fair this year, almost doubling both the number of exhibitors and visitors and enabled participation of business development and financial service providers such as banks and advisory institutions.

Present amongst exhibitors this year were also agricultural equipment producers and experts enabling an exchange and learning in the sphere of new agricultural techniques and technologies.

Agribusiness Project's main contribution was the construction of a mobile facility providing a separate section for the Livestock Exhibition, enabling a bigger number of exhibitors and a greater variety of agribusinesses to take part this year. Seminars on HACCP and Farm Management were held during the fair, helping raise awareness of Serbian farmers and agribusinesses regarding the necessity of food safety, good farm management and international standards requirements.

The City of Nis has recognized the Agricultural Fair as a vehicle to establishing regional cooperation and for enabling an exchange of knowledge and experience amongst agricultural stakeholders. As part of the municipality strategy for rural economic development of the region, the city management is currently in the process of obtaining funds through the National Investment Plan, which will enable the construction of a new multi purpose exhibition facility for use by all sectors of the economy. In the meantime, focus is being placed on improving the management and the organization of the agricultural fair and increasing the number of participants.

The first shipment to international markets took place few years after cultivated production started. Additional 3,000 kg, in small packages, have already been sold on the Serbian market through retail chains. In 2005, within previous USAID program, following farmers’ initiative, 23,000 blueberry seedlings were purchased and distributed enabling production on 10 hectares in the area of municipality of Arilje, Western Serbia.

Nowadays, five times more American blueberries seedlings are being grown on over 50 hectares in Serbia. Partnership with berry growers continues via the USAID Agribusiness Project aiming at entering new domestic and international markets.

To support   the agribusinesses with a goal to encourage agricultural development, USAID Agribusiness Project organizes meetings between representatives of foreign companies and consultants of agribusinesses and associations.  In line with this, during June and July, Mr. Rafael Godoy from Chile visited Serbia.

Mr. Godoy is the inventor of technology that enables keeping raspberries fresh for up to 14 days after harvest. Besides presenting procedures for applying his technology and advantages it gives, Mr. Godoy explained to a group of companies and cooperatives that are engaged in sales of fresh berries the best practices and experiences acquired in Chile.

Samples of fresh raspberries, prepared during his visit, were distributed to the partners in Germany, England and Russia where they received the highest ratings and a “green light” for regular shipments during the next season.

Topics such as ways for extending season through starting production in green houses, introduction of different sorts and technologies were discussed with producers and cooperatives throughout Serbia with Mr. Richard Dale, expert for berries production and marketing with several decades of experience.