Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0413/04137.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 15KB | 246 lines

$Unique_ID{COW04137}
$Pretitle{299}
$Title{Yugoslavia
Chapter 3D.   Cropping Patterns and Production}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Darrel R. Eglin}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{million
tons
production
livestock
feed
hectares
meat
percent
corn
private}
$Date{1982}
$Log{}
Country:     Yugoslavia
Book:        Yugoslavia, A Country Study
Author:      Darrel R. Eglin
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1982

Chapter 3D.   Cropping Patterns and Production

     Climatic conditions permitted cultivation of a wide variety of crops.
Even in localized areas, the cropping alternatives were usually numerous.
Cropping was guided in part by planning in the socialized agricultural units,
the republics, and by national entities for the economy's various needs. The
cooperation arrangements and purchase contracts between socialized
agricultural and private farmers further facilitated planning and the
distribution process. Most of the extensive private sector depended largely on
relative prices, tradition, and weather expectations for making cropping
decisions.

     There are two markets for agricultural produce-the official or socialized
market and the informal peasant markets. The official market with authorized
purchases and set prices accounted for about 40 to 50 percent of total sales
of agricultural products. In the official market the government set purchase
prices and guaranteed minimum prices for important products such as cereals
and meat. Minimum prices, but not guaranteed, were set for a number of
commodities, such as milk, sugar beets, tobacco, and other industrial crops to
be processed, based on costs of production in the socialized sector. The
official prices, announced at the beginning of the growing season, influenced
planting decisions in both the socialized and private sectors. In the late
1970s, for example, relative prices favored wheat compared with sugar beets,
causing the area planted in sugar beets to decline below that necessary fully
to utilize processing capacity in 1980 even though refiners offered to pay
nearly 30 percent more than the minimum price. Prices for some commodities,
mostly those highly perishable, and products sold in peasant markets were
largely uncontrolled. The government at the federal or republic level also
sometimes paid premiums to encourage planting and production of basic
commodities.

     The most important crop, grown in most parts of the country, was corn.
Before World War II it was the basic bread grain, but 80 percent of the corn
was used for livestock feed by 1980 and little for direct human consumption.
Between 1975 and 1979 corn production alone accounted for 15 percent of total
agricultural output and 59 percent of grain production. In the past
half-century between 2 and 2.6 million hectares were devoted to corn; since
1975 corn acreage ranged between 2.1 and 2.4 million hectares. Corn production
amounted to 10.1 million tons in 1979 and averaged 9.2 million tons between
1976 and 1979. Yields on large, modern state farms were among the highest
in the world, but over 80 percent of corn output came from private farms where
yields were usually much lower, in part because of cultivation under
unsuitable conditions and lack of high-yield seeds and other inputs. A
significant amount of corn was sold in isolated peasant markets above official
prices to peasants requiring livestock feed, although less than one-fifth of
the corn produced was marketed. Socialized agriculture sold about 55 percent
of its output, but private farmers used nearly 90 percent of their output to
feed their own livestock. Vojvodina, Serbia proper (excludes autonomous
provinces of Vojvodina and Kosovo), and Croatia were the major production
areas.

     Wheat was the other major crop, and it was grown in many parts of the
country. Between 1975 and 1979 wheat acreage ranged between 1.5 and 1.7
million hectares, and production, 4.4 to 6 million tons (4.5 million tons in
1979). In 1981 planned production of grains was 18 million tons, of which
wheat would account for 6 million tons; corn, 11 million tons; and all other
grains, 1 million tons. Wheat acreage has been slowly declining, but yields
trended upwards to keep output close to consumption requirements except in
years of unfavorable weather. Wheat is the basic bread grain, although some
has been used for livestock feed when other fodder was unavailable. Complaints
in the press indicated that many farmers failed to use cornstalks and other
roughage for livestock feed as effectively as farmers in France and other
parts of Western Europe, so that when feed imports had to be curtailed in the
late 1970s, some peasants substituted wheat, reducing their surplus for
marketing.

     Cropping and production of other produce was much less widespread.
Production of grains other than corn and wheat altogether amounted to little
more than 5 percent of total grain output. In 1979 potatoes occupied 296,000
hectares with production of 2.6 million tons; sugar beets, 140,000 hectares
with production of 5.9 million tons; sunflowers, 257,000 hectares with seed
production of 525,000 tons; and tobacco, 140,000 hectares with production of
56,000 tons. Outputs of major fruits were 1.3 million tons of grapes; 516,000
tons of plums; and 434,000 tons of apples. The country had a substantial wine
and liquor industry based on its agricultural products. Tobacco was exported,
up to about one-third of the crop in good years, after meeting domestic
requirements.

     Yields for most crops have risen significantly since the early 1960s,
largely reflecting introduction of high-yield seeds and increased use of
fertilizer and modern practices. The gains have been much greater in the
socialized sector than in private farming. The draft plan for agricultural
development for 1981-85 anticipated that agriculture would expand at about 4
percent a year-6 percent a year in socialized farming and 4 percent a year
by private farmers. Observers have questioned the ability of the socialized
sector to achieve the planned rate of growth because it has reached a level
of development at which substantially greater yields would be difficult to
achieve. Conversely the goals for the private sector appeared to observers
more attainable. They argued that the potential for increased production from
individual farmers is quite large if the necessary investments and policy
measures are implemented that would result in greater use of fertilizers and
improved seeds.

Livestock

     Raising of livestock has become the most important aspect of farming; its
share of total agricultural production increased from about one-third after
World War II to well over one-half by the mid-1970s in response to rising
incomes and the demand for more meat in the diet. Exports of meat and live
animals have also provided valuable foreign exchange, and officials hope to
expand such exports in the 1980s.

     Two severe constraints had to be overcome for fuller exploitation of
the country's livestock potential. Supplies of feed had to be increased and
the quality of animals improved. Reducing both of the constraints was
complicated by the concentration of animal husbandry in the private sector,
often in isolated upland regions. In 1979 nearly 90 percent of the livestock
by weight was privately owned and a higher percentage in terms of numbers
alone.

     Pigs were the most numerous of the farm animals (except for chickens) and
the most important source of meat. The number of pigs increased from 4.1
million in 1949 to 7.7 million in 1979, accompanied by a substantial increase
in the body weight as improved varieties were introduced. The amount of pork
produced for meat consumption amounted to almost 500,000 tons in 1979. The
number of cattle increased from 5.3 million in 1949 to 5.5 million in 1979,
but the increase of body weight approached nearly three-fold, reflecting a
substantial upgrading of the herds for both meat and milk production. The
country had relatively good veterinary ser