Outdated measures cannot promise prosperity

The farmers' initial reaction to the belated spring moves of the government was - what good are prices and credits when they go to the mediators in the state sector and when the rate of inflation is such that everyone but the farmers is changing their prices daily. When greens are not in question but corn, beet, sunflower or soya - you make a decision today, and leave it to others to reap the harvest three months later.

This is the reason most farmers will be sowing corn again, since it gives more scope for maneuver to the individual producer. Around 725.000 hectares will be planted with corn in Vojvodina alone, which is around 110.000 hectares more than last year. At any rate, it is estimated that the corn harvest requires minimum investment today, around 51.000 dinars per hectare - while the planting of sugar beet costs around 133.000 dinars per hectare. Of course, calculations will depend on who and under what conditions was forced to fall into debt. The very fact that the unwritten rule is that you are expected to pay back twice the amount you borrowed, would not bother anyone if the prices were formed on a free basis. Since the authorities will determine the prices in the light of working class poverty, the farmers are already aware that they will have no one to transfer the costs of production and financing to, especially since strong administrative barriers are forcing them to restrict their activities to a narrow market. "There's no point bothering about paprika and watermelons if I can't take them to the market in Split", says Tima Djordjevic from Platicevo.

True, the government of Serbia, along with the food price control, is trying to restrict the "incoming" prices, so that it has resorted to the hopelessly obsolete economic measure - making the price of diesel 34 dinars per liter for farmers, and 94 dinars per liter for drivers. By restricting the farmers to 200 liters per hectare, the government has once again activated the "black market" syndrome, and although fuel is still not available, or rather the supply is ten times lower than the demand, the press has been informing the public about the successful barter system (food-fuel). The old story will then be reactivated - there will be plenty of "evidence", but no fuel for the farmers, while the "village bureaucracy" will benefit from a few extra salaries, because it is possible to earn at least 60.000 dinars for just a thousand liters of "farmer's fuel".

The price of fertilizers has increased more than the price of fuel. The price of diesel has increased 4.5 times in the past year, and that of fertilizers seven times, while the price of certain semi-finished goods has increased eleven times. Production in the four Serbian fertilizer producing factories is down due the fact that they stood idle throughout the month of February owing to the shortage in foreign currency needed for the import of chemicals.

The Serbian Government still counts on part of the burden of the anti-inflation policy being borne by the farmers - without leaving the country hungry. According to the food balance which has been calculated according to production and spending in better times, Serbia has an annual "surplus" of wheat (800.000 tons), corn (2,380.000 tons), sugar (60.000) and meat (47.000), even if it continues to "feed" Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Montenegro which depend totally on Serbia for the supply of food. Nonetheless, the Serbian Government has placed the still valid food trade with these republics under state control, so that it does not lose to its farmers whatever it gained by applying political pressure on its neighbors. In any case, the example of diesel shows that shortages, and even hunger, can easily be realized by politics in a country rich in food.