Whoever grows this fruit will have safe money in their hands

Agriculture, Photo: Tanjug

If the current trend of growth in demand and prices in the world market continues into the next season, a good price of raspberries can be expected when buying, Dr. Aleksandar Leposavic, one of the leading experts, told “Politika” national in fruits. growing.

Stocks of all categories of raspberries in refrigerators continue to fall. According to the latest report from the United States Department of Agriculture, the quantities of this fruit frozen on January 31 of this year were 13 percent less than a month earlier.

– Due to the deficit of quality raspberries on the world market, their price is currently quite high – he says.

And the quality of this fruit is also demonstrated by the fact that only small quantities of non-contracted products remain in Serbian refrigerators. Currently, the cold stores are trying in various ways to meet the agreed obligations and provide new quantities in the next season. Leposavic adds that only a small number of them paid growers a surcharge for the raspberry delivered of 0.20 euro cents (23.5 dinars) per kilogram. Some, however, announce that they will pay 250 dinars and even more for this year’s harvest. At the same time, there are buyers who, due to previously signed unfavorable contracts, sell raspberries at lower prices than they pay for frozen raspberries to small refrigerators in Serbia.

– It is a tribute to the ignorance of the movements and the situation of the world market. They are in a rather unfavorable situation. Many believe that this will be the end of those who took our raspberries in the wrong direction in terms of price and quality, emphasizes our interlocutor.

He hopes that due to the general situation, the way the purchase of raspberries in Serbia worked will change. That is, the method of low and inappropriate market prices with a possible surcharge, which greatly affected the quality of Serbian raspberries.

– Buyers bought everything, both good and bad. In this way, they destroyed what made us stand out in the world market. And that’s quality – says Leposavić, adding that due to the change in consumer habits during the pandemic, customers now have special requirements. He estimates that due to the increasing demand for higher grades of raspberries, “Roland”, if the positive trend continues, would probably be priced even better than it is today. Due to the increase in the price of raw materials, the demand for “semolina” (the lowest category) will decrease, because the industry will not want to pay such a high price for that quality.

Raspberries, flower, bloom, Photo: Rina

This will lead to a large price difference, so the market will only regulate the purchase price.

– This means that purchase prices will be formed daily in relation to quality. This is how the purchase of fruit already works in Poland, Italy, France and other countries with more regulated relations between producers and buyers – says Leposavić.

According to him, due to the announcement of a good price, interest in establishing new plantations in our country has increased. The problem is that Serbia has had problems for a long time due to insufficient quantities of quality planting material. That is why more than 90 percent of new plantings are based on native plantation seedlings, most of which are infected with various viruses and diseases of the root system.

It happens that even registered importers and manufacturers resort to illegal trade. That is, they provide additional amounts of seedlings from native and uncontrolled plantations.

– Customers are then faced with drying plants in a short time, reduced yield and poor quality. Tighter inspection control of planting material sellers is needed, Leposavić believes.

He concludes that this is one of the ways to finally prevent the situation where the production areas in Serbia are increasing and the yield is not growing in proportion to that or is even decreasing.

Professional services in children

To improve raspberry production, a significantly greater presence of professional services is needed in the field, emphasizes Dr. Leposavić.

The Ministry of Agriculture of the Republika Srpska, together with the most important buyers of raspberries, initiated an action of training of advisers and their participation in solving problems in the orchards with their subcontractors.

– The money for the advisers was provided by the ministry and the buyers. In the end, they expect benefits for all participants in the raspberry business. This should also start in Serbia. The producers have been left alone and the traders for a long time, he explains.

It also warns that the situation in our children is not promising, which is a consequence of what happened in previous years. In the first place, the dissatisfaction of the producers with the purchase price, but also the general situation of the raspberry crop. Therefore, despite growing interest from growers to invest in orchards, he believes that this year we cannot expect a stabilization of yields in the main raspberry areas.

– This is supported by rather unfavorable weather conditions. Unusually warm weather caused vegetation movement in the little ones. We have a greater presence and intensity of certain diseases and pests that our producers do not fight very successfully – says Dr. Leposavic.