Suchergebnisse

In this paper, the authors analyse the trend of agricultural production, at the agricultural holdings and enterprises active within the mentioned sector, in the period after the economic crisis in 2008., based on the submitted financial reports. The fact is that Serbia has favourable natural resources, but the achieved results are significantly below the average of EU member states. This indicates low labour productivity, as well as low competitiveness of legal entities involved in the agricultural sector. The analysis points out to the basic factors that influenced this state of the sector, but also to the possibilities of its dynamic and sustainable development. There is believe that participants in the production and trade of agricultural products can make a significantly greater contribution to overall economic growth, employment, exports and the creation of new value, but they need an adequate business environment and support of agricultural policy.

In this paper, the authors analyse the trend of agricultural production, at the agricultural holdings and enterprises active within the mentioned sector, in the period after the economic crisis in 2008., based on the submitted financial reports. The fact is that Serbia has favourable natural resources, but the achieved results are significantly below the average of EU member states. This indicates low labour productivity, as well as low competitiveness of legal entities involved in the agricultural sector. The analysis points out to the basic factors that influenced this state of the sector, but also to the possibilities of its dynamic and sustainable development. There is believe that participants in the production and trade of agricultural products can make a significantly greater contribution to overall economic growth, employment, exports and the creation of new value, but they need an adequate business environment and support of agricultural policy.

New methods of investments decision-making require establishing a network between economic, social and ecological criteria of resources allocation. Using the consulting, which respects a situational approach in the paper, can make a balance between economic efficiency, socially responsible business and organic production standards. Development of consulting services in the field of the environment protection and organic production has been under the influence of Serbia accessing the European Union. Approaching this market imposes stricter business conditions, which reflect in tougher competition and numerous regulations in the field of the environment protection, protection of producers and consumers, etc. Previous experiences point out to a fact that some sectors represent potential winners after the EU accession. The potential winners are: tourism, transport, construction, financial services and consulting services in the field of the environment protection. Traditional processing industry needs modernization and introduction to a marketing logic. The consulting services, connected to ecology and the environment requirements are relatively new, but there considers that in the future, this segment of consulting services market, will have a greater significance.

In theory and in practice, clusters, as specific form of economic entities association, differ significantly. Theoretically defined, a cluster is often hard to recognize in practice, especially in transitional and less developed countries. There are many dilemmas in scientific and professional public about the legal form of clusters. The most frequent perplexities are regarding clusters' legal aspects issues (is it necessary or obligatorily for cluster to be registered or not?), legal forms in which it can function, internal clusters organization (authorities, rights and obligations of members, etc.). This paper will be focused at a discussion of organizational-legal aspects of clusters in the Republic of Serbia. Base for this issue analysis and drawing conclusions will be a case study (analysis of organizational-legal form of a cluster in the field of Serbian food industry), the analysis of legal documents which regulate the issues of establishment and work of clusters in the Republic of Serbia, as well as the analysis of the governmental documents in the field of clusters motivation in domestic economy.

Starting from the fact that clusters contribute to the competitiveness of industry sectors and the high standard of living in regions where clusters operate, the aim of this paper is to show the relationship between the stage of economic development and the state of cluster development at the level of national economies. Using the ANOVA statistical method the authors have accepted the hypothesis that the state of cluster development in national economies varies depending on the stage of economic development. In order to evaluate the state of cluster development in the country and the stage of economic development, the authors used the secondary data from the World Economic Forum (WEF), published in "The Global Competitiveness Report 2013–2014". Although the stage of economic development is influenced by many economic and political factors, the authors assume that the stage of economic development predominantly depends on the decision and willingness of political and business leaders to lead the country to higher stages of economic development and sustainable economic growth. Their decision has an impact on cluster development in the country, and therefore influences the possibility of clusters to improve economic development and national competitiveness, especially in emerging markets and developing economies.

Starting from the fact that clusters contribute to the competitiveness of industry sectors and the high standard of living in regions where clusters operate, the aim of this paper is to show the relationship between the stage of economic development and the state of cluster development at the level of national economies. Using the ANOVA statistical method the authors have accepted the hypothesis that the state of cluster development in national economies varies depending on the stage of economic development. In order to evaluate the state of cluster development in the country and the stage of economic development, the authors used the secondary data from the World Economic Forum (WEF), published in "The Global Competitiveness Report 2013–2014". Although the stage of economic development is influenced by many economic and political factors, the authors assume that the stage of economic development predominantly depends on the decision and willingness of political and business leaders to lead the country to higher stages of economic development and sustainable economic growth. Their decision has an impact on cluster development in the country, and therefore influences the possibility of clusters to improve economic development and national competitiveness, especially in emerging markets and developing economies.

The cooperation between local communities, scientific research institutions and LAGs ‒ local action groups (especially to development oriented agricultural farms, SMEs ‒ small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurs in the field of agriculture) is imposed as necessary during the establishment of the strategy of sustainable agriculture and rural development of any local community in the Republic of Serbia. Only with close cooperation of all interested local stakeholders can be set a realistic SWOT matrix that describes well state of agriculture and rural areas at the local level (picture of internal resources and development constraints, in the context of opportunities and threats of the environment), then definition of adequate development goals and directions of investment activities that would lead to the realization of determined goals of sustainable agricultural and rural development. As any local government should individually find the best possible modalities for making of its own plan for sustainable development of agriculture and rural development, the intention of the Institute of Agricultural Economics from Belgrade, in this case, was the establishment of model for sustainable development of agriculture and rural areas at the territory of Bački Petrovac municipality (Vojvodina region). The core of proposed model is contained in establishment of the document based on completeness and integrativity, social consensus, in other words participation of citizens, farmers and all stakeholders, in order to achieve more efficient decision-making process related to future capital investments.

Stable production in the Republic of Serbia is limited by rainfall, which is on the one hand insufficient and on the other hand unevenly distributed throughout the growing season. Therefore, the introduction of irrigation in agricultural production is of great importance because it contributes to the increase in production volume, it improves the quality of crop yields and the economic effects of investments in production. Depending on climatic conditions and the conditions for production, up to 100% higher yields can be obtained by irrigation, while in very dry years up to two or three times higher. Serbia is a member of the Energy community with international obligations regarding the use of renewable energy sources (pursuant to Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of electricity from renewable sources). In accordance with that Directive and the Decision of the Council of Ministers of the Energy Community in 2012 (D/2012/04/ MS - ENZ) and National Renewable Energy Action Plan of the Republic of Serbia ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia", No. 53/13) a very ambitious and binding target was set for Serbia of 27% gross final energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020. A number of national legislative and policy documents point out that increased use of renewable energy sources is a main need and aim in order to improve agriculture and economic development of Serbia.The implementation of solar panels that convert sunlight into electricity is recommended in order to use irrigation systems at affordable prices and save energy, that is, to start and operate the water pump at lower cost. This is particularly important for those areas that are suitable for agricultural production (which can not be intense in the true sense of the word without irrigation), where there is no electric grid, and there are water resources: wells, groundwater, streams, canals, rivers or lakes. Due to low operating costs during use, the solar pump units prove to be more cost-effective than the petrol engine only after the second year of use.

In the national economy clusters have been recognized as an instrument for strengthening productivity and innovation in Small and Medium Enterprises, as well as an instrument for regional development starting from 2005, when the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development began with the implementation of development projects of the first clusters. The ministry along with other government and foreign institutions, which worked to build clusters based on the projects, has provided support for cluster development in the national economy. The subjects of this paper are clusters in Serbian agribusiness registered until June 05, 2013. The aim of this work is to identify main characteristics of clusters, problems in their functioning, and to propose measures for cluster promotion in the future. This is achieved by market analysis of clusters or survey in the form of interviews. The research results indicate that clusters in Serbia were unable to develop until middle of 2013. They still possess low operative, innovative and export capacities, and there is a lack of key contributions of clusters to creating a unique regional specialization of labor and knowledge, as well as increasing regional competitiveness. In the future cluster development in agribusiness will be directly related to the creation of a favourable business environment for SMEs, stimulative and predictable agricultural policy, as well as developed entrepreneurial initiatives aimed at joint activities and cooperation.

In great part of its rural areas, Serbia has all prerequisites for promotion and successful implementation of the concept of multifunctional agriculture and integrated rural development: richness of diversity in rural areas, significant natural resources, preserved natural environment of rural areas, great potential for development of wide range of non-agricultural activities in the countryside. On the other hand, there are many limitations and weaknesses in the field of rural development: unfavourable production and ownership structure in agriculture, unfavourable business environment for SMEs and enterpreneurs, little support for farmers from agricultural budget, underdeveloped physical and market infrastructure, lack of entrepreneurial spirit, lack of linkage between farmers, high government centralization and limitations of local self-government in implementation of rural development projects.

During the study, we put emphasis on basic characteristics and world primary agricultural commodity market ways of functioning. This market is different in many elements from the markets of other goods and these differences primarily include: supply and demand characteristics for agricultural products, high volatility in agricultural commodity prices, high and significant government role, as well as high market concentration and vertically integrated food chains. All of these specifics are specially processed and the emphasis is put on developing and transition countries, which, due to world agricultural market specifics, have inferior and very vulnerable position in relation to developed countries.

Organic farming is a fast growing market segment in the global food industry. Ecological and health benefits of organic farming are frequently emphasized. In addition, we have recently witnessed the promotion of its role in the development of rural areas by means of creating jobs and strengthening ties with local economies. This paper analyzes the relationship between the presence of organic farming and the main characteristics of agricultural holdings in the case of European Union countries. The objective is to identify factors which have a significant relationship with the organic farming sector and which can affect its future development. The results have shown that large farms are dominant in farm land management in the EU, which is related to the fact that there is a significant correlation between the availability of agricultural areas and the economic value of farms (r = 0.881**). There is a positive and significant correlation between the economic value of a holding and the number of livestock units on the farm (r = 0.940**), which indicates that animal husbandry has strong economic potential. When it comes to the relationships between the structural and economic indicators of agricultural holdings and the presence of organic farming, the results have shown that the number of organic producers is positively and significantly correlated with the available agricultural areas (r = 0.675**), and a strongly positively correlated with the economic value of farms (r = 0.810**). The areas under organic farming are also directly correlated with the utilized agricultural area (r = 0.836**), as well as with the number of livestock units (r = 0.793**), but they are slightly negatively correlated with livestock density (r = -0.211). Therefore, high livestock density can be a limiting factor for the further intensive growth of organic farming areas, considering the significant impact of animal husbandry on the environment.