Today, after years of determined effort, the organic agriculture sector in Serbia has attained a respectable position in the economy. The first notable example of the transition to a Green Economy is the growth of organic farming, which has been promoted due to its possibility for reducing the environmental impact of agriculture.
Organic products have been popping up all around us lately, and we are generally familiar with what that means for us, but not so much with the impact that has on our environment.
As we discovered in our talks with company Moja Bašta – an agriculture start-up from Serbia and one of the few organic farms to possess premium certificate – this means that not only soil, seeds, water and fertilisers are 100 per cent organic, but also the way this type of farming functions and impacts on the environment.
Moja Bašta’s workers have special training and use solar panels and electric machinery in order to comply with green standards. Their strategy is to provide the most environmentally efficient production cycle and produce top quality products. Their honey is one of the few to have gained an EU premium quality certificate. However, they didn’t achieve that alone, but rather they learned and practised how to do so together with more than 60 subcontractors.
“Our passion was quality products, in the first place, that we were producing for ourselves, and then we wanted to share our products, but because of the small quantities we had higher prices, so the only way to impact on the EU market was to provide premium quality, as there aren’t many competitors in this segment, as production is difficult. We are also very proud when people are surprised that this is coming from Serbia,” says co-owner Djuradj Ćaranović.
There is huge opportunity in organic production for Serbia, not only based on the consumption of healthier products, but also based on the impact on our environment. Organic production has become a highly specialised agricultural system, which requires specific professional education, knowledge and technologies
Demand is already high in Austria and Germany, where they are very familiar with the quality of Serbia’s organic products. For us, the EU is now our standard market, where we are recognised as a brand, so we are now trying to penetrate Scandinavian markets, especially Denmark’s, which has a bigger premium organic market share.
The next step for Moja Bašta is to offer its products on the domestic market. Currently, only small groups of people are able to consume these products in Serbia. However, as we learned, the company is set to launch online sales soon, with the same quality and an average market price that corresponds to current standards. Moja Bašta also wants to help with the transition to the Green Economy and to share its knowledge.
“As we are aware, there is a huge opportunity in organic production for Serbia, not only based on the consumption of healthier products but also based on the impact on our environment. Organic production has become a highly specialised agricultural system, which requires specific professional education, knowledge and technologies. Perhaps we don’t need so many organisations, regulatory bodies or agencies offering seminars, but rather we need to focus more on control of the quality of the products and associated education. As we discovered, high-quality products produced in Serbia can be financially profitable. We only need to educate and motivate family farmers to start thinking about this.”