Living Standards Measurements Study - Serbia 2002 - 2007

Table 10.4. Active agricultural population by type of activities
Sex
Male
Female
Total
Source: Census 2002
Employed in agricultural activities
– producing for the market
10.3.4. Marketability of agricultural
households
Employed in agricultural activities
– own production
Manual workers in agriculture
79 377 20 8475 17 738
73.9% 53.1% 72.2%
28030 188803 6813
26.1% 46.9% 27.8%
107407 397278 24551
The marketability of agricultural households is
reflected by their ability to create profit. Farms
generating greater market surplus have favourable
organizational and economic performances and
achieve better productivity. In addition to farm
performance, marketability also depends on the
general situation in agricultural production,
accessibility to organized markets, price parity and
attained yields.
Serbian agriculture is characterized by low
marketability and high own production
consumption. Small farms, the majority in Serbia,
have production that satisfies own needs, reducing
their market dependency, but the proportion of own
production consumption of food in relation to
overall expenditure is extremely high (Graph 13).
The data shows that own production
consumption accounts for 37 percent of the total
food expenditure in agricultural households. The
poorest farms satisfy 47 percent of their nutritional
needs by own production, while for the richest
farms this is 30 percent. Out of total consumption,
own production compensates 22 percent of the
needs of the poorest and only 9 percent of the
richest farms. One can conclude that poorer farms
use a part of their production to satisfy their own
food needs and their market surplus is insignificant.
Data on the percentage of agricultural
households generating income from the sale of
agricultural products support this and shows that
35.7 percent of farms in 2006 were selling plant
products (crops, vegetable, fruit and viticulture
products) and timber and 44.3 percent sold livestock
and/or livestock products. The greatest
marketability of production is achieved by farms
from Vojvodina and medium-size farms. In terms of
100% 100% 100%
percentages, the differences in the proportion of
farms selling products by quintiles of consumption
are not significant, but income generated by this
trade is several times higher for the richest farms
(Graph 14). The greatest profit among farm
production is as follows: corn (12 percent of farms
sell surplus), fruit (12 percent), wheat (9 percent),
and industrial oil (6 percent).
Graph 10.13 Share of own production
consumption of food expenses and total expenses
by quintiles of consumption
Total
Poverty line
2007
Quintiles of consumption
Below
Above
The
poorest
2
3
4
The
richest
13,6%
13,3%
26,4%
21,5%
17,2%
14,0%
12,5%
9,1%
36,8%
36,3%
41,3%
36,8%
33,9%
29,9%
51,2%
46,7%
Own production of food consumption
Own production of total consumption
146 Living Standards Measurements Study - Serbia 2002 - 2007