State Allocates Over RSD 100 Billion Annually to Agriculture, Public Register of Subsidies Needed
Serbia allocates more than RSD 100 billion annually to agricultural support, while between 280,000 and 300,000 farmers apply for subsidies each year. In order to improve transparency, the Ministry of Agriculture has recognized in its new Strategy the need to introduce a register of subsidies. NALED proposes that this register be electronic and integrated with the eAgrar platform, enabling better oversight and preventing double funding.
The register, whose establishment is envisaged by the Law on Incentives in Agriculture and Rural Development, would provide a more transparent overview of fund allocation, as well as more efficient management of the agricultural budget. It would also contribute to reducing administrative costs, improving payment control, and enabling the development of evidence-based agricultural policies.
"The introduction of a public register of subsidies would benefit not only farmers, but also policymakers in the field of agricultural policy. Such a register would provide insight into precise data on the effects of individual measures - how many beneficiaries use each measure, whether its scope should be increased or adjusted, and which investments deliver the greatest development impact. Based on this information, it would be easier to assess the efficiency of public spending in agriculture and continuously improve the support system for this sector, which is why this is one of the key recommendations of NALED’s Grey Book," said Slobodan Krstović, Director of the Sustainable Development Department at NALED.
More than 500,000 agricultural holdings are registered in Serbia, and in 2024 alone approximately RSD 102 billion was disbursed for subsidies. Of this amount, around RSD 52 billion was allocated to direct payments, such as per-hectare subsidies, milk premiums, or livestock incentives. On the other hand, investment measures within rural development programs are used by a smaller number of farmers, but the individual subsidy amounts under these programs are significantly higher.
Due to the large number of beneficiaries and the diversity of measures, the subsidy distribution system is complex, further increasing the need for transparent and easily accessible information on the use of public funds. Transparency in agricultural support systems is a standard in the European Union. EU member states maintain public electronic registers that provide insight into beneficiaries, subsidy amounts, and the measures under which funds were granted.
"The Ministry of Agriculture made an important step forward in 2023 by starting to publish lists on its website with identification numbers of farms that received subsidies and the amounts granted. However, it is now necessary to go a step further. NALED’s Grey Book recommends that once the Subsidy Register is established, it should be integrated with other databases of the Ministry, such as the electronic system for submitting applications for registration and subsidies - eAgrar. This solution would also have a positive impact on agricultural producers who, due to a lack of trust, had previously refrained from applying for support funds," Krstović concluded.
Among the Grey Book’s recommendations for improving the food and agriculture sector are the digitalization of field records, improvement of the framework for organic production, the abolition of VAT on food donations, and the introduction of the possibility to donate food past the “best before” date. A key recommendation of NALED’s Food and Agriculture Alliance is also the establishment of a legal framework for regenerative agriculture, along with the introduction of support measures to help farmers adapt to this new model.
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