In Montenegro, according to the preliminary results of the Agricultural Census, there are a total of 26.711 agricultural holdings, 31 percent fewer than in 2010. Appearing on TV Vijesti's Boje jutra, Ranko Bogavac from the Ministry of Agriculture pointed out that the data is not bad.
"This is a general trend in the world, that the number of people engaged in agriculture is decreasing, but production is increasing, and so is Montenegro. The land on one farm is increasing, the number of livestock on the farm is increasing, and the number of those engaged in agriculture is decreasing. These data, as far as Montenegro is concerned, are not bad. We are using more land now than in 2010. We have 248.000 hectares of land to use. Is it plowing, perennial crops, pastures used for grazing livestock, meadows that are mowed. So we have more of it than in 2010," Bogavac pointed out.
However, livestock farming is the dominant branch of agriculture. The census found that there are fewer cattle, sheep and goats on farms, while the number of pigs and poultry has increased.
"As for the number of animals, cattle as the most important species is from 68.000 to 80.000 - a certain decline. However, when we consider that the number of households engaged in this activity has decreased, this decline is not as great as for Montenegro, which has a population of 600.000. We have one head of cattle for every 10 inhabitants, so that ratio, compared to other professions, is not bad. As for goats, 28.000, there were 34.000. We know that goats were banned in Montenegro for a long time, until 1953, and after that they were not bred for decades. If we take into account that goat farming has been promoted in the last 20 years, the number of 28.000 goats in total is not a bad figure. Here we have the figure for poultry, 1.360.000, we had 603.000, you see that it is 120 and a bit percent more. So, we have egg production at a high level "At this level, we can provide 90 percent of the eggs to cover our needs. For the first time in history, we can say that we have exceeded 100.000 hives. Here we have 113.000 hives registered. Let's assume that some hives are not registered. That's 120.000 hives. When we add to that that the average honey yield is about ten kilograms, in some bad years, five to six. This past year was not the best, so we are passing a thousand tons of honey and we completely satisfy the Montenegrin market, as far as honey is concerned, we satisfy the eggs, almost completely. As far as chicken meat is concerned, we have 45% sufficiency. As far as lamb meat is concerned, we also have almost complete sufficiency, but it is not distributed properly. When it is in season, then we import something, but after that, during the autumn, we have a certain surplus, so when that surplus is translated into what we have imported, we end up with the same thing," said Bogavac.
This year's Agrobudget is planned to amount to 62,5 million euros and will be at the level of last year.
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