Before the raspberry harvest season, insurance companies offered a price of 290 dinars per kilogram, but the price reached 400 dinars. However, many producers claim that even 10 euros per kilogram would not help compensate for the damage from the drought.
From the south to the west of Serbia, many families have come to harvest income from raspberry picking. This motivation is stronger than the tropical heat.
“You have to work. We came to work, we have to endure,” says Jagoda Ajdarević from Vranje.
Despite the irrigation system, the yield in Lazar Todorović’s raspberry fields in Divljaka is low. He believes that the overall production decline is also due to the difficulty in finding certified Willamette seedlings, which are increasingly being replaced by new varieties.
“And then we lose years, simply by trying out these new varieties, which have not proven to be ideally good in our climate,” says Lazar Todorović.
According to experts, this season in the history of Serbian raspberry farming will be remembered for two records: the shortest picking season and the lowest yield.
Fruit growers gathered in the “Willamette” association believe that a natural disaster should be declared. They expect measures from the Ministry of Agriculture to save production, as they have been affected by an unprecedented drought.
“Yes, in June, not a drop of rain falls in our territory. And we are just entering the warmer part of the year, July, August, where it will be even hotter, following last year’s trend,” says Mile Radojičić from the “Willamette” raspberry producers’ association from Arilje.
To save production, many have resorted to irrigation from the tributaries of the Rzav, which are therefore at a record low. Despite this, the river from which consumers in two districts are supplied with drinking water has not dried up. The water factory appeals to public utility companies, to whom they distribute water, and inspection services to prevent misuse.
“Water supply systems are not designed for that water to be used for irrigating agricultural areas, for washing streets, for washing cars, and for all other types of unintended consumption,” says Zoran Barać, director of the Public Enterprise for Water Supply “Rzav.”
One cannot fight against the whims of nature; the damage from drying raspberry fields would not be compensated even by a price of 10 euros per kilogram, fruit growers claim. And from the water factory in Arilje, they say it is more important that drinking water taps do not run dry. Everyone agrees that a new strategy is urgently needed due to climate change.
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Source: RTS; Photo: RINA