The Development of Organic Agriculture in Serbia and Worldwide

Abstract

Summary Organic agriculture is a food production system that sustains the health of people, soils and ecosystems with no adverse consequences, combining tradition, innovation and science. The development of such type of agricultural production, from its beginnings to the present day, has encompassed a number of specific stages both in Serbia and worldwide. Accordingly, the purpose of this survey study is to present the developmental course of organic agricultural production in Serbia and worldwide. The paper also summarises the state of organic plant production across different regions of Serbia, arguing that the Serbian organic production has been increasing since the 1990s. Following the political changes in Serbia in 2000, foreign donations, investments and organisations have significantly enhanced the country’s organic production sector as a whole. The largest number of organic producers (1/3) and the largest areas devoted to organic farming are concentrated in Vojvodina.

Articulating Organic Agriculture and Sustainable Development Goals: Serbia Case Study

“…Serbia's position in the context of SDG achievement can be compared to neighboring countries that encompass similar characteristics in terms of agriculture development and food production [43,44]. The SDG ranking for Serbia is lower compared to Croatia (12), Hungary (22) and Romania (35) but the obtained results outperformed Bulgaria (44), Bosnia and Herzegovina (47), North Macedonia (60) and Montenegro (67) (Table 1). It is also evident that the SDG achievement of Serbia in 2023 falls behind the region of East Europe and Central Asia, and this is particularly marked for Goals 1, 2, 3, 4, 9 and 17.…”

“…Practical examples of different types of sustainable agricultural systems can be identified in Serbia, such as permaculture, biodynamic agriculture, regenerative agriculture, agroecology and organic agriculture, but there is also a significant overlapping between them. Although there is a high awareness and need to introduce ecological principles and sustainable intensification, so far, areas under the sustainable agriculture systems in Serbia occupy only a small land-use area; they are not adequately accepted by all farmers, and a significant part of the production is export-oriented [47]. The fact is that many of these sustainable farming systems were firstly being adopted by NGOs, small farmers and, more recently, by large commercial companies.…”

How Do Mixed Cover Crops (White Mustard + Oats) Contribute to Labile Carbon Pools in an Organic Cropping System in Serbia?

“…The European Commission adopted "A Farm to Fork Strategy" COM (2020) 381 [11] and "EU Biodiversity for 2030" COM (2020) 380 [12], which comprehensively respond to the challenges of sustainable food systems. In Serbia, organic farming has been practiced since the early 1990s [13] and has developed further since then. Studies in Serbia have shown that the use of cover crops has many positive effects on soil and plant quality as well as on the environment [14][15][16][17][18][19].…”

Seed Health Treatments in Organic Seed Production

“…The Regulation (EC) No. 834/2007 imposes the need for each Member State to create a computerised database that is set up to contain varieties of which organic-produced seed is available in its territory (Golijan, 2020;Golijan and Sečanski, 2021b). The offer of organic varieties and organic seeds is at odds with the expansion of organic agriculture, which slows down the development of organic production (Ugrenović et al, 2010).…”