Agricultural output reached a growth rate of 2 percent in 2011, foreign trade balance will have a USD 1.5 billion surplus, while the food offer has been stabilized, Serbian Chamber of Commerce president's adviser on agriculture Vojislav Stankovic has said.

The reduction of trade margins related to basic food priducts to an acceptable level, 10 percent maximum, will result in a 10-15 percent drop in prices, Stankovic told Tanjug.

The agricultural budget for 2012 has all the characteristics of a development budget.

The budget is much bigger than last year's and provides considerable funds to improve the irrigation infrastructure and subsidize agricultural production, he noted.

According to Stankovic, agriculture will have everything it needs to develop faster, while the construction of meteorological and biological stations and improvement of consulting services will raise productivity and competition.

"All of this means that products that have undergone a higher level of processing will be on the market, that all fears of low supply or demand will be dispelled, which will help provide a comfortable supply for the country's population at affordable prices," he said.

There are realistic chances of reaching an agricultural production level much higher than the existing, which stands at USD 5.5 billion, and that the 2012 growth rate in agriculture could be as high as 2.5-3 percent, he pointed out.

BlackSeaGrain