Slobodan Milosavljevic at today's press conference
Milosavljevic told a press conference that the leaflet also contains forms which farmers should fill out in order to exercise their right to funds from the agrarian budget for this year.
The distribution of the leaflet will begin on Monday, he added.
Minister Milosavljevic recalled that the Decree on the terms for funds for the refund of production materials for farmers in 2007 for the first time introduces a new mechanism of direct assistance to farmers from the agrarian budget.
He added that he proposed that the government imposes a temporary ban on the export of wheat and corn, or at least to introduce export quotas to ensure that there are sufficient amounts of wheat and corn in the country until the next harvest.
According to Milosavljevic, the introduction of export quotas or temporary bans on export must be carried out in order to prevent a hike in the price of bread and meat, as well as other goods in the production chain, but also to ensure the quality of basic agricultural products on the market until the year’s end.
This step is necessary since Serbia has already exported 310,000 tonnes of wheat from the beginning of the year until August 1, whereas last year the figure was 40,000 tonnes, he said.
He recalled that the situation with corn is also unfavourable since it is expected that this year’s yield will fall by 30% to 60% due to drought and results of the most recent analyses show that instead of 6.5 million tonnes, this year’s yield of corn will stand at around 4 million tonnes.
The price of wheat and corn at the Commodity Exchange in Novi Sad have risen by 50% and have a continued growth tendency, which is why the limitations on export must be introduced.