In recent years, newer generations of agricultural producers have been educated and graduated from agricultural colleges, and this is no longer a rare case. This is also the case with Steva Bogdanović from Gornja Slatina near Šamac, who graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture in Banja Luka, Department of Agriculture and Vegetables, and is already treading serious years of experience as an agronomist.
He was not lucky enough to inherit a lot of arable land and agricultural machinery, nor to have someone help him in his work, he acquired his life’s path and wealth slowly, persistently and by himself, initially basing agricultural production on a smaller area, and as his experience as an engineer grew production increased, as well as finances for further expansion and investment, which many can now envy. And this is confirmation that persistence and effort always pay off in the end.
Top yields
He cultivates about 120 ha of land, some of it is his private property, and part of it is under lease. Most of the agricultural land is under corn, the sowing of which is in progress and is slowly coming to an end.
“I mostly choose corn hybrids from the lower FAO ripening group up to 400, from renowned seed companies, in order to avoid a dry period in the summer months, and this year I plan to sow it on about 600 dulums ,” Stevo told Agroklub.
This hardworking host does not bypass or skip a single agrotechnical measure, so that, when the year and weather conditions permit, he generally has top yields, and his plots are selected by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of the Republic of Srpska as sample areas.
As for small grains, currently 150 dulums are under wheat and, as he says, they are in good condition, they look good, there are no diseases because the weather was dry without precipitation, which is the sole cause of the disease, but regardless of that, the first fungicide treatment was carried out as a preventive measure, and basic, followed by foliar feeding. Like most farmers, Bogdanović had the presence of ryegrass in the wheat and established broad-leaved weeds, which he stopped and completely eliminated in time with herbicide treatment.
All oilseeds are bought by “Bimal”
Of the industrial plants, he sows oilseeds, namely soybeans at 200 dulums and sunflowers, also at 200 dulums, and everything produced is purchased by the “Bimal” oil mill. This thirty-two-year-old man owns all the necessary large and small machinery, a combine harvester, several tractors and other things necessary for high-quality and fast cultivation of the land, so that he manages to do all the work in the field by himself with two to three seasonal workers who come to help in the spring or autumn when most jobs.
He points out that he is satisfied with the incentives provided by the line ministry of the Government of Republika Srpska, and that thanks to him he was able to acquire all the necessary machinery. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management encourages young people with 50% of the invested funds for the purchase of new machinery for agricultural producers under the age of 40. This year, there will be significantly more areas sown under oilseeds because the Government raised the incentive by 100 KM per ha, so that it now amounts to 400 KM/ha.
What would you change?
When asked what is wrong and what he would change, he says that despite the high yields, the agricultural producer often does not have any calculations due to the mismatch and poor ratio of the prices of raw materials (fertilizer, seed and planting material, plant protection agents, etc.) and the end product when purchased. , as was the recent case with enormously high fertilizer prices.
In recent years, Stevo has been insuring crops in an insurance company, as the years are increasingly uncertain for agricultural production and the climate is changing, and he appeals to all agricultural producers to do the same because the Ministry also subsidizes 60% of the policy value.
Just last year, which was one of the most difficult for agricultural producers throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, young Bogdanović managed to recover damages caused to the sunflower and soybean crops due to a storm.
Source: akta.ba
