Agriculture

The region of Šumadija and Pomoravlje is located in the central Serbia in an area of a larger number of local streams in the basin of the Velika Morava as well as the Velika Morava River, which flows with its substantial part through the region. The natural conditions favor the development of different agricultural systems. The alluvial plains in the river valleys are suitable for development of farming and vegetable growing and hills for vine-growing and fruit-growing. The land is mainly used for arable land, orchards and vineyards, but there are also some meadows, pastures and forests. Thanks to favorable geological and climatic conditions, agricultural production has always been one of the leading sectors in the structure of economic activities that characterized the region of Šumadija and Pomoravlje.  

The Agricultural area (ha)                                                                                                                                                                        

The total agricultural area in the territory of the Šumadija and Pomoravlje region is 329962 ha. In the structure of agricultural area the areas under cereals covert 41.2% of the total agricultural land in the region.  

The Crop Cultivation - The Production of wheat and maize  

According to the recently processed statistics related to the year 2008, the total wheat yield in the territory of the Šumadija and Pomoravlje region was 124838 tons from a total of 15304 ha. At the same time on 44427 hectares of maize total yield of 355133 t has been achieved.  

The Vegetable Growing - The Industrial Production and Vegetables

According to the data related to the year 2008 , the total yield of sugar beet in the territory of the region amounted to 2449 tons, or 20.4 tons per ha. For the sunflower culture, beans and potatoes, these values amount to 4504 tons (2.2 tons per ha), 4320 (1.1 t / ha), 58715 (11.1 t / ha) respectively..  

The Fruit and Grape Growing

In the structure of the total agricultural land the Šumadija and Pomoravlje areas of orchards cover 30836 ha (9.3%), while 6581 hectares are vineyards (2%).  

However, the characteristics of Šumadija and Pomoravlje is that there are villages that have specialized in the production of fruit and where are households that produce fruit for the market in the properties larger than 10 hectares, especially in the villages of the municipality of Topola (village of Vinča, Trnava). Of fruit crops most common are apple, peach and plum.  

Similar to fruit growing, viticulture in the territory of Šumadija and Pomoravlje has a long tradition and in the past represented a more important factor in the agricultural production. Vine growing and wine production in the region are related primarily to the municipalities of Rekovac and Topola, both successful due to the natural conditions for this production, and because of the tradition that these two municipalities have in the production of grapes and wine. Recently there has been a rise in the individual wine producers who want to be more present in the wine market with the registration of their products.  

Registered farms

In the territory of the region at the end of 2009 there were 35212 registered farms. The process of the farm registration began in 2004, and in time the registration was accepted as a necessary process to reach improvements and investments into manufacturing, as well as exercising the right to subsidies and incentives of the competent ministries, which led to a steady increase in the number of registered farms.  

Viewing the number of registered farmers in the municipalities

A significant support to registered farms is provided by the offices for the rural development which have been formed in all local governments of Šumadija and Pomoravlje, out of which 12 offices are function under the Regional rural center of Kragujevac. The regional rural Center Kragujevac was established by the Regional Agency for the Economic Development of Šumadija and Pomoravlje in cooperation with the local governments in the region in 2008 under the project of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management called ‘Building a support system for the rural development.’ The reason of the foundation of the Centre was to unify and accelerate rural development in the region through building, engagement and capacity improvement of the local communities and providing a two-way flow of information between the central and local level. This way an access to information relevant to rural areas on the policy of rural development and agriculture is provided, as well as informing about and demonstrating good practices and successful initiatives in order to acquire knowledge and incentives to promote creativity for the promotion and utilization of existing resources for the rural development on the local level.

Serbian agriculture, so the agriculture of the Šumadija and Pomoravlje region as well, faces many problems, which are among other things, the result of the restrictions created in the conditions of economic environment and agricultural policy, which was present in the previous decades. As one of the main problems in the agricultural production and agricultural development in general, the fragmentation of land ownership which greatly affect the extensiveness of production was identified. Secondly, the agricultural production in villages of Šumadija and Pomoravlje is often of broad type which makes the existing resources not sufficiently exploited. It should be noted here that efforts have been made in some villages to eliminate this problem, that marks the beginning of the diversification of agricultural production in accordance with territorial characteristics is being distinct. Thirdly, the level of technical equipment of the rural households is at a rather low level. The average age of machinery is longer than 15 years, which significantly limits the opportunities of improvement for farmers.