By Maja Tuljković – Sarajevo

Farmers in B&H have reduced their production by half for certain types of vegetables, and as it stands now, this negative trend could continue in this and the upcoming season. The statistical data is testament to the decreasing production of locally grown vegetables year after year. In 2012 in B&H, 299.935 tons of potatoes were produced, which is around 130.000 tons less than in 2008. Around 27.609 tons of carrots were produced in 2008, while four years later production halved. It is the same situation with cabbage and kale, where production in the same period decreased by around 20.000 tons. Farmers said that import mostly destroys local production, and also because citizens do not want to engage in agriculture and the production of vegetables.

Growing potatoes, carrots, beans and kale involves difficult labor, and most people are not interested in engaging in this type of work today.

Farmers’ Associations point out that young people are more interested today in walking around town and drinking coffee, and when offered a daily pay of 50 BAM to pick fruits and vegetables, they refuse. Price affects production, which is very low for certain types of vegetables, so that for only a small amount of farmers does it pay off to invest in production, and they most often choose to grow only for their own needs.

Statistics show that citizens like to eat imported fruits and vegetables, and when it comes to imports, B&H has become the first in Europe. B&H meets its needs with nearly 90 percent imports, with domestic production accounting for 10-15 percent, and only 10-15 percent of vegetables consumed in B&H is of local production, and local farmers have the capacity to produce vegetables to feed the entire country.

Because of this, local growers cannot sell their products and are forced to throw them away or sell them at a much lower cost. What is particularly devastating is the fact that what arrives from imports are potatoes, tomatoes, onion, cabbage and other types of vegetables, which is grown in B&H and maybe even has a better quality. There are even cases that imported vegetables, upon entering B&H, are branded as local products.

Farmers said that they do not have anything against regular imports of fruits and vegetables, especially since B&H is a member of the regional free trade agreement CEFTA. In the winter period, there are vegetables that have to be imported because they are not grown in B&H, but this is only a small part. Therefore, the FB&H Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Interior, in cooperation with agricultural associations, sent a request to the B&H Council of Ministers to prohibit or to limit import in the season in order to save local production.

Apart from imports, weather conditions impacts local production, and in the last few years’ unfavorable weather was frequent. There were high temperatures in January, and many plants are now in the budding stage.

Now, temperatures have suddenly dropped, which was a shock to some fruit trees, and heavier damage is possible in Herzegovina, where the daily temperatures this January reached up to 20 degrees Celsius. All this created a ‘false picture’ among plant life that gave the impression that spring has arrived, and intense vegetation has already started.