A heatwave and persistent drought could halve the grain and vegetable crops in Bosnia this year, an agriculture official said on Tuesday. "An extremely hot wind and temperatures of up to 42 degrees Celsius have caused significant damage to maize, vegetables and fruit in the Serb Republic," said Vladimir Usorac, the head of the region's farmers and agriculture association.

Usorac was referring to the situation in the region known as Bosnia's granary, which planted 160,000 ha to maize, 4,000 ha to soybeans and 35,000 ha to sunflower, vegetables and forage crops this year. "The maize crop alone will be cut by at least 50 percent to 800,000 tonnes," Usorac told Reuters. Usorac said a lack of irrigation posed the main problem as farmers relied only on rain. He said the agriculture ministry should provide assistance to overcome this issue in future.

The Serb Republic allocated 60 million Bosnian marka (US$42.5 million) this year for agriculture, which employs two-thirds of the region's workforce. Officials from the Muslim-Croat federation, Bosnia's other autonomous region that is not as dependent on agriculture, were not available to comment. Farming contributed less then 10 percent of Bosnia's gross domestic product before the 1992-95 war but covered 7 percent of domestic needs. The sector now contributes 12 percent of GDP but covers only 35 percent of domestic demand. Imports contribute to a high foreign trade gap.
(Planet Ark, 26/07/2007)