ZAGREB, 4 Aug, 2021 - The European Commission has approved an additional HRK 220 million (€29.3m) in aid to Croatian livestock farmers, the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. 

HRK 130 million (€17.3m) has been approved under the Animal Welfare Measure of the EU Rural Development Programme, while HRK 90 million (€12m) has been approved for the use of manure on fields.

The Ministry noted that since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic it had adopted a number of aid schemes, worth nearly HRK 450 million (€60m) in total, including those for the livestock sector, adding that aid schemes for the poultry and dairy farming sectors were under preparation.

Due to an increase in prices of cereals and other components of livestock feed, at the last meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council, Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković called on the European Commission to look into possibilities of granting financial aid to stabilise the livestock sector, as well as other possible mechanisms to ensure the equal treatment of Croatian producers on the global market.

The request was supported by 15 member states, and the Commission is expected to continue monitoring the situation and take any emergency measures as may be necessary, the statement said.

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ZAGREB, 23 July 2021 - The grave situation in the dairy sector, caused by rising costs due to growing prices of cereals and fodder, has prompted the agriculture ministry to ask the EU for HRK 15 million (€2m) in aid for fodder supplies for local milk producers, the Croatian Chamber of Agriculture (HPK) said on Friday.

The HPK said in a press release that representatives of Croatian dairies, the HPK and Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković held talks on Thursday on the serious situation in the dairy sector.

One of the conclusions of the meeting is that the ministry should ask the EU for HRK 15 million in aid for the procurement of fodder.

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ZAGREB, 13 July, 2021 - In 2020, the physical volume of gross agricultural production in Croatia went up by 2.4% on the year, owing to a growth in plant production, while cattle production dropped, according to the national statistical office.

ZAGREB, 13 July (Hina) - In 2020, the physical volume of gross agricultural production in Croatia went up by 2.4% on the year, owing to a growth in plant production, while cattle production dropped, according to the national statistical office.

Plant production went up by 7%, while cattle production fell by 4.1%.

Maize production went up by 5.8%, wheat by 7.4%, by soybean by 8.9% and grapes by 14.1%.

In cattle production, only beef production increased, by 1.2%, while egg production went up by 11%.

Plant production accounted for 61.5% and cattle production for 38.5% of gross production.

In 2020, the physical volume of net agricultural production increased by 2.8%.

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ZAGREB, 29 June, 2021 - Croatia can be satisfied with the agreement on key issues from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform package because it takes into account its most important demands, Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković said in Luxembourg on Tuesday.

At a two-day meeting in Luxembourg, EU agriculture and fisheries ministers on Monday confirmed the agreement on the reform of the CAP, reached with the European Parliament last week.

Vučković said Croatia was glad its most important demands had been taken into account, concerning the treatment of areas with natural constraints, animal welfare and certain exemptions and flexibility regarding small farmers.

The new CAP rules, to be in force from 2023 to the end of 2027, oblige member states to respect the social and labour rights of agricultural workers, encourage farmers to apply greener farming practices, envisage incentives for smaller farms and young farmers and advocate making financial support to farms more conditional on their results and performance.

Now that political agreement has been reached on the new CAP, the path is clear for both legislative institutions, the Council and the Parliament, to formally vote the new rules in.

The ministers also reached agreement on a control regulation that refers to fisheries.

Vučković said that monitoring and control in the fisheries sector were very important and that Croatia had made significant progress in recent years, notably regarding the application of innovations and new technologies in control and monitoring.

She commended the Croatian fisheries sector for undergoing a very important and difficult transformation, underlining the need to preserve the country's fishing resources, fishing fleet, small fishermen and their traditional way of life.

Vučković also called at the Luxembourg meeting for the continuation of support to wine makers, beekeepers and fruit and vegetable farmers.

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June 25th, 2021 - Croatia does not have the right to ignore the fact that its farms are old, that someone has to stay living there, and that it requires agriculture investments to catch up to developed countries, Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković said at a regional workshop on Friday.

This was the first regional workshop on the "Strategic Plan for the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) 2023-2028," intended for local and regional government representatives and experts.

Vučković said that interested beneficiaries could be informed of the challenges of the future CAP and the basic elements of the future national strategic plan.

She recalled that the agriculture strategy to 2030 had been completed, as has a study on the strategy's impact on the environment. The strategy has four objectives - increasing the productivity of agricultural production and its resilience to climate change, strengthening the competitiveness of the agriculture-food sector, reviving rural areas, and stimulating innovations.

On the other hand, the National Strategy Plan is being prepared according to future EU regulations and incorporates matters that the strategy doesn't.

"We are opening important and challenging issues related to the financial allocation, about certain definitions that didn't exist before, for example, what is a real or active farmer... The challenges ahead also mean satisfying climate and ecological ambitions concerning investment in new technology," said Vučković. 

Commenting on the challenges in agriculture in the coming period, Vučković underscored that each country in the EU has its specificities.

" Agriculture, in fact, is that activity that has to equally consider all three pillars of sustainability - economic, social, and green sustainability," she said, adding that the agriculture policy wishes to contribute to maintaining Croatia's beauty, biodiversity and to reduce the negative impacts of climate change.

She underscored that the rural development program definitely brings structural changes to Croatia's agriculture.

She announced that amendments to the Farmland Act would be prepared soon.

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ZAGREB, 18 June 2021 - The Croatian Parliament's Agriculture Committee on Friday endorsed the initiative by its chair, Marijana Petir, and adopted a declaration on the Alps-Adriatic-Danube region free of GMO.

The declaration will be forwarded to Parliament for adoption, and activities will be undertaken through national decisions and cooperation with the countries in the region to ensure that the region remains GMO-free, the Committee said.

Petir launched the initiative in 2010 after receiving the support of the professional and interest public that all Croatian counties should be declared GMO-free. She also received support from Hungarian, Austrian and Slovenian MPs and the Italian ambassador to Croatia for her initiative to declare the entire Alps-Adriatic region free of GMO.

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ZAGREB, 21 May 2021 - Goran Vrabec has been named Croatia's best young farmer in 2021, a farmer who owns a family farm in the northwestern region of Zagorje growing chili peppers, and he was presented with the prize by Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković on Friday.

Vrabec was chosen from among 21 finalists and along with the first prize, he also won a reward of HRK 25,000, donated by Zagrebačka Banka.

Brankica Borović, whose family-run farm business produces natural, dermatologically tested cosmetics based on immortelle and almond oil, won second prize and HRK 15,000, while wine maker Ivan Gerštajmer Zelember won third prize and HRK 10,000.

The competition for the best Croatian young farmer was organised by Croatian member of the European Parliament Sunčana Glavak, the Agriculture Ministry and the Jutarnji List daily.

The finalists will travel to Brussels for a ceremony at which the best EU farmer will be awarded.

Zagrebačka Banka has secured financial education for the young farmers and will assist them in filling out forms for EU funds, while the Konzum retail chain, which is a sponsor of the competition, will sell their products.

Glavak said that the record high number of applicants showed that young people were very interested in staying in Croatia and its rural areas.

She said that it was encouraging that Croatia would have a record-funds amount of funds from the EU at its disposal, which it will be able to use to improve farm production.

Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković said that Croatia was slightly above the EU average in terms of the number of young farmers, who number 23,228, which is 13.6% of the total number of farmers.

"That is not enough, but the trend is positive and has been rising and we want the share of young farmers to reach 20% with the share of farmers aged above 55 simultaneously going down," she said.

The minister said she was glad that young farmers were increasingly using measures from the Rural Development Programme because it brought structural transformation to rural areas. She noted that agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture could be the real engines of development of Croatia's economy.

Parliament Speaker Jandroković said that he was glad Croatia was above the EU average in terms of the number of young farmers and that he saw hope for development of villages and rural areas in that.

Ample EU funding has evidently helped young people recognise opportunities and realise that country life is often better than life in a city, and that it is possible to make a living from farming, he said.

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May 11, 2021 -The oldest university in Croatia is the one in Zagreb, and the best faculty at Zagreb University is the Faculty of Agriculture, according to the NTU global ranking of 800 universities worldwide.

The quality of Zagreb University, according to the global NTU ranking conducted by the National Taiwan University, is in decline. On the list of 800 Universities worldwide, Zagreb University was ranked 478th best in the world, and in recent years it was levitating between 551st and 600th place. But, as Srednja.hr reports, the overall decline of quality has an exception on that list, and it's thanks to the Faculty of Agriculture.

The Faculty is ranked to be the best at Zagreb University, and the area of agriculture on the global list is ranked between 301st and 350th place. That is the ranking of the area, but also under the criteria of research interest, the ranking is even better, 87th place, thus making it the only thing at Zagreb University to be in the top 100 on the list.

„Even though it's the oldest human occupation, agriculture today is light years away from what our grandparents know. Agriculture is part of the STEM area (‘science, technology, engineering & mathematics), and it's actually highly technological. There are several reasons why this sector so is fastly modernized. For starters, the production of food and raw ingredients to produce food is the most important human activity that will always have demand. To keep up the step with the increasing number of population, less and less arable surfaced and the increasing living standards, agriculture had to modernize significantly, and introduce newest technologies“, writes Srednja.hr.

© Sveučilište u Zagrebu Agronomski fakultet

The Agriculture Faculty in Zagreb was founded in 1919. As the Faculty's official website reports, they have over 450 employees today who are highly motivated to pass their knowledge to around 2,500 students, which they consider their greatest value that they add to society.

„By connecting with foreign universities, both from Europe and worldwide, we have international cooperation in both teaching and scientific research area, and student mobility. Successful participation in bilateral and multilateral research programs, exchanges of students, young scientists, and university lecturers, as well as securing scholarships contribute to the visibility and recognition of the Faculty on all levels“, says the Agriculture Faculty.

The Faculty's personnel annually publishes 280 scientific papers, and in the last decade, 160 active research projects are ongoing with 75% of investments coming from domestic sources and the rest from international ones. Scholarships supports, and rewards for the best students are secured through the trust fund the Faculty has.

„It's less known that the Agriculture Faculty is declared a Scientific Centre of Excellence CroP-BioDiv (for biodiversity and molecular plant breeding). It is one of the 10 scientific centers in the STEM area declared in the Republic of Croatia. CroP-BioDiv is a research network of top scientists from all over Croatia directed to the transmission of highly sophisticated knowledge and technologies“, writes Faculty's website concluding their institution is directed towards future with sustainability, quality, research encouragement, scientific excellence, and cooperation with the Croatian economy, as key strategic goals.

As Zagreb is a popular ERASMUS destination among European students because of cheap drinks, rich and vibrant party scene, The Agriculture Faculty shows that apart from partying, the Croatian capital is a place to get some actual learning done. And on a pretty high standard no less, at least when it comes to agriculture which serves as a role model to the rest of the poorly ranked University.

Agriculture is about food, and you can learn more about Croatian food (specifically, vegan and vegetarian options) on our TC page. 

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ZAGREB, 29 April, 2021 - Opposition MPs were not impressed by the announcement by the state secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture that more funds have been allocated for Croatian agriculture in the next EU budget period than in the previous one, saying on Thursday that the situation in this sector was catastrophic.

"The situation in agriculture is catastrophic. The number of producers, milk suppliers, is falling, and there are fewer and fewer products made by our own producers that meet our needs," MP Marina Grman Kizivat of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) said, asking about the veracity of the information that Croatia would receive less money from EU funds for agriculture than before.

State Secretary Tugomir Majdak said that there would be more money for Croatian farmers in the period until 2027 than there had been in the period until 2020, adding that in the next budget period €2.6 billion would be available for direct payments, compared to €1.57 billion in the previous period.

The opposition used the proposed amendments to the Agriculture Act to draw attention to key problems in the sector, such as aid.

Željko Pavić (SDP) said that the problem was that aid was granted per hectare. "Some farmers have been granted the lease of thousands of hectares of karst pasture. They earn huge amounts of money without having livestock of their own," he said.

Majdak responded by saying that the state aid scheme was transparent, based on tenders and criteria in accordance with EU rules.

Responding to a question put by independent MP Marijana Petir, Majdak said that work was under way to improve the aid system and gear it towards small farmers.

Small farmers will be the priority of future measures, both the Agricultural Strategy until 2030 and the Strategic Plan until 2027, and other vulnerable groups, such as women in rural areas, will also be included, Majdak said, adding that the strategy is expected to be sent to the government in the second quarter of this year.

"In the next programme period we will ensure that young farmers get 100% support for investments of up to €100,000," he said in response to a question from Ankica Zmajić of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).

Petir recalled that Croatia should prepare the National Strategic Plan by November, adding that the European Commission had made 13 recommendations for this plan, detected its good points and found that 20% of agricultural holdings owned 75% of farmland and received 77% of aid.

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ZAGREB, 15 April, 2021 - Strawberry picking season has begun in the Vrgorac area in southern Croatia and the Vrgorac strawberry association told a news conference on Thursday that this year  600 tonnes of high quality strawberries can be expected from local fields.

Vrgorac high-quality strawberries will already be available at farmers' markets as of tomorrow the association's president Milan Franić said.

According to Franić, about 600 tonnes are expected from this year's yield which will bring in a revenue of HRK 12 million for producers in the Vrgorac area.

"We have good weather conditions and will produce a standard quality. The yield will be high and of good quality for almost all producers however 15 family farms affected by last year's floods in Kokorići will not have any yield this year because the floods destroyed their greenhouse and crops," said Franić.

He added the price of strawberries is HRK 25 (€3.3) per kilogram, which is far below their price in the European Union where their cost ranges from €7 to €10.

"We are happy however that Vrgorac strawberry farmers will generate a revenue of HRK 12 million for the HRK 5.6 million that they invested, which is good for Croatian circumstances. We will continue to invest in improving the quality of our strawberries of which 80% are produced in tunnel greenhouses which protect them from rain, hail and frost and guarantee they are produced without any pesticides" said Franić.

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