CORN HARVEST IN PCINJ DISTRICT ALMOST OVER

24. October 2014.

Vranje – In the territory of Pcinj District, the harvest of corn at about 10, 000 acres of land is almost completed, with the yields ranging from 5.5 to 9 tons per hectare, depending on the investments and the application of agro-technical measures.

“The weather conditions over the past few days helped and allowed a regular corn harvest, so that it is estimated that the job will be completed by the end of the month. As for the corn that was planted in the flooded areas, for which the Ministry of Agriculture donated seeds for the area of about 70 hectares, it is in excellent condition and we expect that the harvest in Pcinj District will be completed in the third decade of October. Corn is traditionally the most common cereal in the municipalities of Vranje, Bujanovac and Vladicin Han, with the yields of about 40 % higher than the average for this part of Serbia, and mostly everyone is satisfied. Frequent rains during the harvest and high humidity contributed to decreased moisture in corn and prevented it from becoming a prematurely matured hybrid,” said Nada Lazovic – Djokovic, Advisor for Field and Vegetable Crops.

According to her, there is fungus and redness on top of the corn grains, so that the infected corn can’t be disposed in the baskets, since it isn’t suitable for feeding livestock and may be used only for making fire, otherwise it will infect the healthy corn, too.

“The farmers from Pcinj District will turn all the picked corn into forage, silage and concentrate, so that they won’t have a surplus of corn for selling,” said Nada Lazovic - Djokovic.

Also, the preparation of land for planting autumn winter crops started in the areas from which the preceding crop had been removed. According to the estimates of the agricultural advisory office, winter crops will be planted on 16000 hectares of land, which is slightly less compared with the last year.

In order to prepare farmers for the autumn harvest, the Ministry of Agriculture, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance and the banks, as one of the measures of agricultural policy, extended the use of the Rules on the Conditions and Manner of Exercising the Right to Credit Support to November 1, 2014. The said rules enable farmers and agricultural cooperatives to easily use the loans for the procurement of raw materials for the autumn harvest, with a fixed interest rate of six percent per annum. The loans are extended with a maturity of one to three years, with the possibility of a dormancy period of up to one year, which is included in the period of loan repayment. Interested farmers may get more detailed information on the conditions of exercising the right to this form of credit support in the branches of commercial banks that concluded the contracts with the Ministry and on the premises of the Expert Agricultural Office in Vranje.

Source: Jugmedia and Coordination Body