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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Irrigation crucial for the development of agriculture

Subotica, 11 May 2018

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic announced today that by the end of the mandate of this government agriculture sector in Serbia will look completely different and will be more resistant to weather and climate change.

After visiting works on the construction of the regional sub-system "Tisa-Palic" near Subotica, Brnabic said that only 3% of agricultural land in Serbia is being irrigated at the moment, and that at the end of her government's mandate it will be at least 8%, ie or more than 100,000 hectares instead of the current 24,000.

The consequences of last year's drought have demonstrated the extent to which agriculture is not equipped to deal with climate change, which prompted intensive talks to change the direction of Serbian agriculture development in order to be more resilient to weather, she said.

The Tisa-Palic Regional Subsystem is one of the 11 projects financed by the Irrigation Programme - the Abu Dhabi Fund in Vojvodina, and the works on the subsystem are worth €4,748,042.

This subsystem is supplied with water from the Tisa River and is part of the regional hydrosystem of North Backa.

Within this fund, 14 projects are financed - 11 in Vojvodina and three in central Serbia. I am pleased to hear that these 11 projects will be completed by the end of the year, with the preparation of another 18, which will be financed from the same fund, Brnabic said.

She said that, in addition to irrigation, electrification of the field is important, in order to bring the current to every field, as well as the procurement of radar anti-submarine systems, in order to protect ourselves automatically.

Brnabic pointed to the importance of digitization in agriculture, and reminded that the first digital farm in Serbia opened a few months ago, within which farmers can get acquainted with new technologies in agricultural production in certain days.

The Prime Minister announced that in September the foundation stone for the Biosens Institute in Novi Sad should be laid.

She added that representatives of the institute will soon sign an agreement on the use of satellite data in Brussels, where all the information on soil quality and humidity is available, which will allow experts to advise our farmers how to apply new knowledge.

Brnabic stressed that our country can be a European champion in agriculture.

Prime Minister of the Vojvodina government Igor Mirovic, who also visited the Subotica-based premier, said that the works on the Tisa-Palić subsystem will be completed by the end of July.