26 January 2019 - "Good news for the agriculture sector is that Agro budget for this year amounts to 52.4 million EUR and it is higher by 12.4 million EUR or 31% compared to the previous year. Just as we have announced: greater funds and grants programmes will be provided for the more dynamic development of our agriculture," Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Milutin Simović said.
At the presentation of 2019 Agro budget, held today in Rvaši, DPM Simovic assessed that this year's Agro budget is both European and domestic.
To maximize the use of Agro budget funds, according to Simović, support measures will be presented to potential users on the ground in direct communication with hosts, entrepreneurs, and local communities.
Such an approach, he said, will be a special obligation and an individual responsibility for everyone in the Ministry and the competent administrations.
The Agro budget defines three areas of support: agriculture, fisheries, and operational programmes. A total of 58 measures have been defined. This year's Agro budget, as Simović pointed out, was created on the basis of an analysis of the implementation of measures of the previous Agro budget, followed by suggestions and observations by the users and implementation services, with numerous recommendations from the associations of producers and processors and local self-government, which were accepted within the limits of financial possibilities and in accordance with our agrarian policy.
The Deputy Prime Minister pointed out that the Agro budget continues with a wide range of users both in livestock and plant production, with the dominant participation of small farms.
He said that in the first half of the year, the implementation of 56 already agreed on IPARD-like projects is expected and that this year will be the first year of implementation of the big IPARD.
"We are sure that this will be the year of great investment momentum in our agriculture both in the processing sector and in primary production. That is why we have planned the implementation of 21.5 million EUR through this measure," Simović stressed.
This year's ambition is to publish new IPARD calls for support to processing and primary production, as well as to accelerate the process of accreditation of a new measure to support the diversification of activities in rural areas.
The support programme for young farmers will be implemented this year, with grants of 10 thousand EUR per farm.
