Plum trees in Valjevo villages are still in the first place in terms of the area they occupy. Despite the fact that producers are often not satisfied with its purchase price, the “queen of fruits” is popular because it can be sold fresh, dry or processed into brandy. That this is the case is also evidenced by the number of submitted and approved requests for incentives for the purchase of fruit seedlings, which are provided from the agricultural budget by the city of Valjevo through the company “Agrorazvoj – Valjevske dolina”.
Plum production in the Valjevo region – expansion of plantations
On the family estate in Golaja Glava, Miodrag Purić’s orchards cover an area of four hectares. It is dominated by the plum, the “Stanley” variety. Last year, he planted a young plant, and he applied to “Agrorazvoj” for incentives for the purchase of 300 seedlings.
He had, as he says, the intention of planting 50 ares, but after realizing the right to vegetable money in the full amount, he bought more seedlings for a hectare of new plum trees.
“Since my son decided to grow fruit, I decided to expand the orchards. I have a mini dryer, and I will probably get a flow dryer as well. This year I dried five tons of plums, it couldn’t be dried any more on this small one, so we need a bigger dryer.
This year, the price of prunes is below expectations. The price was not allowed to go below 35 dinars per kilogram, the expenses are big, we only pay the worker 12 dinars for the purchase. It’s not realistic. There is no labor, and you have to pay. And when you pay, what’s left, not even half.
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Last year I got one and a half euros per kilogram, that’s solid, that’s how it can be done,” says Purić. Matija Selaković from Sušica harvested nine and a half tons of raspberries from almost one hectare this year.
He says he is satisfied with how the year was, although he reminds that this year was dry, it is increasingly difficult to find pickers, and that “the price is not good, but it needs to be much better so that we have the bill to pay the workers and we have something left over.” ”.
“Last year, I received incentives from Agrorazvoj and planted 2,300 seedlings, and about 2,000 the previous year. Pleased that the city is helping in this way. I also received subsidies for mechanization, and I had a refund of 100 percent for raspberry seedlings.
I will not give up raspberry growing, because I plan to expand the plantations in the coming years, but also to restore the old ones,” says this young fruit grower.
Plums are still planted, interest in raspberries declines
According to the data of the Agricultural Advisory and Expert Service in Valjevo, in the last three years, 115 producers used funds for the purchase of fruit seedlings. This year alone, 20 fruit growers planted new plantations in this way.
“Given that when planting plum trees, the minimum area is 50 ares, for which 200 seedlings are needed, although the majority took 400, 500 seedlings, we can say that in three years around 150 hectares of orchards were planted.
Plums were mostly planted, followed by raspberries, and some stone fruits – walnuts and hazelnuts, which are mainly planted by those who have not been engaged in fruit production until now. When it comes to plums, these are producers who plant new plantations, renew existing ones or want to increase the area.
Compared to a few years ago, there was a drop in interest in raspberries, which is understandable considering the purchase price,” says Đorđe Sovilj from the Agricultural Advisory and Expert Service in Valjevo.
According to Sovil, a consultant for fruit growing, plums will continue to be the most planted, with the fact that the assortment is slowly changing. He states that “Stanley” is still the leading variety in areas where it is grown, but the percentage of interest in it is far less than four or five years ago.
“Besides that, this variety has had the lowest price on the market for a couple of years as far as fresh sales are concerned, and I think it will be even more drastic in the coming period. Many producers are interested in Čačan selections, such as “Čačan native” or “Čačan beauty”, which achieved a higher price on the market this year.
More and more fruit growers want to plant plantations with the “red rank” variety, whose fruit reached a price of 60 to 70 dinars per kilogram this year, which is three times higher than the “Stanley” variety, says Đorđe Sovilj. from the Agricultural Advisory and Expert Service in Valjevo.
Source: www.agromedia.rs
