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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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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May the 11th, 2021 - One Zadar-based test run by AquaWeb is seeing how much water can be obtained from the air in a bid to help out agriculture and other forms of food production in Croatia.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes, the very first biomimetic company in Croatia operates under the name CROdelicious, the director is Ana Yael Prelog, while the co-owner, known for numerous international environmental projects, is Croatian-American scientist Anamarija Frankic, who teaches coastal ecosystem management and biomimicry at the University of Massachusetts.

The American team in which her students participated in the creation of the biomimetic design of AquaWeb, which involves obtaining water from the air for local food production, won two international awards. Back in 2017 it took home first prize at the Global Biomimicry Design Challenge, as well as the Ray of Hope Prize.

Today, AquaWeb design in Croatia is marketed through CROdelicious, and the system will be tested out on the agricultural property of the University of Zadar - Bastica. At this stage, it is still a pilot project, implemented in cooperation with the Zadar County Development Agency Zadar Nova, meaning that the planning, design and construction of AquaWeb has played a key part of the "AdriaClima" project which is worth a total of 8.8 million euros.

"In general, the goal is to strengthen the adaptation and resilience of local communities to climate change, which we're witnessing today," said the director of the aforementioned development agency Marina Dujmovic Vukovic.

This innovative solution by AquaWeb is based on the absorption of water from the air and its subsequent storage, and according to Frankic, AquaWeb wants to show how it is possible to ensure on-site water availability and the proper irrigation of small agricultural areas, especially in periods of water deficit.

''AquaWeb acts as an absorbing infrastructure for atmospheric water, mimicking the way a spider's web collects water, water storage techniques modelled on various succulent plants, then the transportation of the water like mycelium and structural support in the form of honeycombs. In nature, there are hydrophilic and hydrophobic nanostructures in which different species in nature absorb water from the air. Therefore, this project is based on nanotechnologies,'' explained Frankic, adding that she got Fulbright to establish a course in Biomimicry at the Department of Ecology, Agronomy and Aquaculture at the University of Zadar.

In a wave of rapid development, especially over the last 25 years under the pressure of climate change, in parallel with the search for answers to this great threat to the economy, biomimicry is entering into all pores of modern business. It is also present in all scientific disciplines, biomimetic technology, medicine, architecture, design, engineering… It is estimated that about 45 billion US dollars account for investments managed by companies that support bioinspired innovations. Frankic claims that solutions on this basis do exist in Croatia, they're just not typically recognised and many are not even known of.

AquaWeb's new initiative for a greater impact of the principle of biomimicry on the business of entities in various industries is already attracting interest and cooperation. A team of young experts, including Matej Vucic (biology), Naum Kiceec (marketing), Marin Bosnjak and Marko Mataic (IT), is creating the first Croatian startup for agriculture based on biomimetics. They intend to put the projects they are preparing for EU funding into money through cooperation in agricultural production, including the networking of interested family farms (OPGs), as well as the introduction of this approach to other activities in a multidisciplinary way, from the construction sector to that of energy.

''Our idea is to facilitate business processes based on biomimicry and through innovative technologies to gain greater value, not only in business on self-sustainable principles, but for society as a whole, our environment and the entire country,'' stated Kiceec.

Biomimicry is gaining more and more importance, explained Frankic, because there is no waste in nature, everything is efficient, multifunctional and sustainable on the basis of collaboration, and not just in competition as we're taught. In biomimicry, we can learn how to be self-sustaining, thus, based on the results of monitoring in Zadar's Bastica, guidelines will be planned for the further implementation and application of innovative technologies and ''nature based'' biomimetic solutions in agriculture and in self-sustainable local development.

Depending on the results, activities and planning for potential commercial production will continue, and given climate change and the dire need for water, the sky quite literally is the limit for AquaWeb's praiseworthy idea.

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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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ZAGREB, 15 April, 2021 - The real extent of damage to orchards due to the unusually cold weather in April with snow and early morning frosts, will only be known in the next few weeks, Croatian Fruit Growers' Association president Branimir Markota told Hina on Thursday.

"We have been in contract with the agriculture ministry during the entire time of low temperatures last week and again last night, and have discussed the possible consequences these unfavourable conditions will have for fruit growers. The real extent of the damage will only be visible in a few weeks and once we know it and depending on the possibilities, we will certainly seek assistance," Markota told Hina.

A huge problem exists because insurance policies do no cover damage caused by frost that occurred prior to 10 April, he said. 

That's something that will be discussed with insurance companies and the ministry which covers 70% of the cost of insurance premiums from Measure 17 of the Rural Development Programme, Markota explained.

Fruit growers usually insure their crops via Measure 17 - Risk management and Sub-measure 17.1 - Insurance of crops, animals and plants.

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ZAGREB, 9 April, 2021 - Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković on Friday presented three contracts from the Rural Development Programme worth HRK 8.5 million to beneficiaries in Jarmina municipality in eastern Croatia.

She also attended the opening of "Jarmina", the first kindergarten in the municipality in which HRK 7 million was invested from EU funds and her ministry's Rural Development Programme. It will be attended by 75 children.

Vučković told the press this was the 12th kindergarten in Vukovar-Srijem County built with funds from the Rural Development Programme, for which HRK 56 million was ensured, adding that 200 kindergartens would be opened in Croatia thanks to over HRK 1 billion from the programme.

The 12 kindergartens have been opened in communities with a population of below 5,000.

Vučković said kindergartens were important for keeping young families in villages, adding that her ministry would soon advertise calls for the construction of more kindergartens, farmers' markets, firehouses and community culture centres.

Last year the Croatian EU presidency secured the support of the member states for a transitional regulation to enable continuity of financing until "the whole common agricultural policy reform is adopted," the minister said, adding that the reconstruction and construction of the social infrastructure in rural areas would continue.

Over €5 billion for Croatian agriculture

Vučković announced that Croatia would receive over €5 billion for agriculture in the EU's 2021-27 budget.

She said 12.9% of Croatian farmers and over 20% in Vukovar-Srijem County were under 41.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)

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ZAGREB, 8 April, 2021 - Documents resulting from the Strategic Transformation in Agriculture and Rural Space (STARS) project will help determine how around five billion euros that have been made available for Croatia's agricultural sector will be spent, Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković said on Thursday.

The Agriculture Ministry and the World Bank cooperated on the STARS project, and the agreement on project cooperation was signed in October 2018.

Analyses, studies and guidelines made during the project have thus been significantly used also in making a draft agricultural strategy for the period until 2030, which has been put to public consultation, and in making a national aquaculture development plan for the period 2021-2027. Both documents are aimed at enhancing the sectors' competitiveness and adapting them to current conditions.

Numerous domestic and foreign experts, sector stakeholders, employees of the Agriculture Ministry and other Croatian institutions and universities cooperated on the project, with Vučković noting that the start of work on the project had coincided with debates about the future of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy, which will affect financing priorities and development of agriculture in all member states.

The project served to reexamine the situation and needs of the Croatian farm sector, as well as the measures that are being implemented, and its documents will be used in deciding how the roughly five billion euros intended for Croatian agriculture will be used, Vučković said.

Great chances for development of Croatian farm sector

Project coordinator Svetlana Edmeades of the World Bank said that the World Bank strongly believed that Croatia had great chances for the development of its farm sector.

Farm producers have central place in the project, which identifies as national strategic goals an increase in productivity and in the resilience of farm production to climate change, stronger competitiveness of the agricultural and food sector, revival of rural economy and improving living conditions in rural areas.

Edmeades underlined the importance of knowledge and innovations, noting that the development of Croatia's agriculture should be green, resilient and inclusive, which includes, among other things, production of organic food, sector resilience to shocks, as well as greater involvement of smaller producers in existing value chains.

She said the project achievements were a number of reports that should serve as guidelines for the ministry and farm producers towards a green, resilient and inclusive agriculture.

The World Bank official said that the analyses were expected to significantly contribute to the government's programme with regard to specific targets in the farm sector, in the making of a national agricultural and rural development strategy, participation of agriculture in the national recovery and resilience plan, and national strategic planning within CAP.

Value of agricultural production to be raised to HRK 30bn by 2030 

State secretaries Tugomir Majdak, Zdravko Tušek and Šime Mršić presented the draft agricultural strategy for the period until 2030 and the national plan for the development of aquaculture in the period 2021-2027.

The officials said that the projected effects of the strategy until 2030 were an increase in labour productivity of 60% and the consequent increase in the value of farm production to HRK 30 billion, for which funds in the amount of €7.5 billion were envisaged.

This should be achieved, among other things, by a 35% increase in the number of locally bred fattening pigs, a 20% increase in cattle breeding, expanding areas under permanent crops by 5,000 hectares and areas where crops are grown under glass by 500 hectares, a 20% increase in the share of the food industry in GDP and a 30% increase in the number of producers in short supply chains.

The national plan for the development of aquaculture in the period 2021-2027, which is being made, will put emphasis on stronger competitiveness and the creation of 15% more jobs in the rural and coastal economies in the aquaculture value chain, including an increase in total production volume of 30%, a 35% increase in added value in the processing of aquaculture products, and an increase in the average annual consumption of aquaculture products per capita by as much as 50%, the Agriculture Ministry said.

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March 24, 2021 - Poreč strengthens agriculture with exciting new projects implemented by the City. 

Last Friday the city of Poreč signed contracts for assigning funds to the agricultural civil societies to help their projects and programs. The continuation of the tradition established in the last two years, Poreč city gave 150.000 kuna to associations Bio Istra and Agro Poreč through a public contest, both for their day-to-day work in agriculture and for the project "Eko! impjantamo ružmarin" (Eco! let's plant rosemary) which includes going to schools and giving pupils unprocessed rosemary to plant in the school. The project is at full speed and even the coronavirus pandemic didn't stop them, as the first phase of the project was done via Zoom.  In the early stages of the project, the goal is to establish cooperation between the only two high schools in Poreč: Mate Balot High School and Anton Štifanić Tourist School.

"We started with the first workshop in preparing rosemary seedlings with the agrotechnical pupils at Mate Balot and we will use it to decorate the garden of Anton Štifanić Tourist School," said Vlasta Radoičić, president of Bio Istra. Her association exists for the past 23 years and is working on the county level, determined to activate as many people as possible to boost family agricultural businesses. 

"Poreč was the cornerstone of eco-agriculture and it needs to remain that today and become a modern teacher of the area", concluded Radojčić.

Poreč is one of the strongholds of Croatian tourism in Istria, but it's also a truly agricultural city. Loris Peršurić, mayor of Poreč not only knows it but strongly supports it. 

"We have a 145-year-old institute for agriculture and tourism as well as a 138-year-old agriculture school, the only one in Istria, which means a lot for our city", said Peršurić. He adds that is precisely why he tries to support and help projects related to agriculture which includes co-financing the Centre for invasive species in common projects and as mayor, hopes to valorize a wine cellar that dates from the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy rule and is known today as enoteca (wine library) in the community. "Poreč is the headquarters of famous winemakers and olive oil makers and our agricultural story continues to grow and develop", concludes Peršić.  

The city also finances the project "Apply for Agriculture School - Produce Food and Take Care of the Environment" which resulted in a 50% increase in pupils educating in the school and there are opportunities for pupils to continue education in the field in Poreč too. 

seedling planting © Udruga Bio Istra

 Local olive treasure

Poreč is also proud of its local olive species Porečka Rosulja, which was first described by a famous local scientist Carlo Hugues 120 years ago. The olive wasn't researched much after that, but today, scientists from the Agriculture and Tourism Institute are out on the field to pursue the described treasure of the Poreč olive scene. Agro Poreč association secretary Zdenko Barac whose organization is dedicated to promoting local agriculture and seedlings distribution is included in this research. He is thankful that the city recognized the importance of Porečka Rosulja and its investment in the "mother field" in Poreč where new seedlings will be prepared for further distribution and for another olive plantation in St. Martin Bay, which will have both educational purposes and will be a nice architectural touch to the landscape of the area. No to mention, a nice dedication to Hugues which first described the species.  

"The number of seedlings is growing. This is the third year of the project where we have 530 seedlings and we started with 170 in 2019", says Barac. The plan is to prepare the best seeding material and apply them to the  Croatian Center for Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs.

"There are very few cases in the world where a species is named after city so we can boast about that", concluded Barac.

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