Professor at the Faculty of Agriculture, Imer Rusinovci, has stated that the import of products that can be produced in Kosovo is unacceptable.
According to him, over the 25-year period, the country has been characterized by a lack of domestic production, and as a result, imports are increasing.
He added that corn is one of the main products that could influence the reduction of imports, but last year there was no production of it at all.
"There must be indicators, there must be measurement figures on the ground. We must change this issue once and for all with the right agricultural policies, precisely in infrastructure, in the consolidation of the primary, secondary, tertiary irrigation system, in the repair of many Iber-Lepec canals, the Radoniqi system, etc., because it has been seen what has been done this year with corn production, we have not had corn production. Corn is the key to economic development, you have no milk, you have no meat, you have no eggs, you have no meat by-products, milk, etc. This is the reason why we have a staggering import," he said.
He further considered that the current agricultural situation on the ground should be remedied and improved.
"If we speak in the sense of a demagogue and say that agricultural imports can fall to 0, it is a lie. Rice is not produced here, citrus fruits are not produced, that is, we have to buy, but to have a staggering import of strategic products that coincide with our agro-ecological conditions, for us, for the institution and for the farmers is unjustifiable. We must remediate and improve this state of agriculture that we have on the ground," he declared.
Selimi: Subsidies have always been given to buy votes
Agriculture sector expert Fatmir Selimi said that subsidies in agriculture have always been given with the intention of buying votes.
He said on the show "Elections in the Time" that the program developed by the Ministry of Agriculture is a social program and not a developmental one, as he believes it should be.
"We have two types of aid, subsidies and grants. Subsidies in most cases, not only by this government but by all governments, have been used to buy votes, they have not been used for development purposes. They have helped farmers in various ways, who have done a very good job, but the evaluation and determination of various subsidies in amounts, where the amount has been increased without any economic analysis, why the amount has been increased and how much impact it will have on development, has been done on a political basis and not an economic one," Selimi emphasized.
According to him, this has had a negative impact in some cases.
"This has created lazy people who own the land and receive the subsidy, but have rented the land to someone else, and the person who rented it and produces does not receive the subsidy, but the owner of the land receives it," Selimi declared, adding that the Ministry has failed to control and identify these cases.
Tahiri: Since 2021, agriculture has started to move forward for good
Tahir Tahiri from the Kosovo Farmers' Union said that if we analyze the period from 2021 to now, we can see that agriculture has finally started to move forward.
On Wednesday on "Elections in the TIME", Tahiri said that increasing subsidies, exports and stopping corruption are some of the factors that have influenced this movement.
He added that he hopes that if there are government programs related to this field, they will be implemented in the future so that it does not go backward.
"We would not be right if we did not recognize that something has finally begun in this period from 2021 to today. We as a union are touching on these on the ground. The increase in subsidies, exports, then the cessation of corruption, factors that have moved agriculture forward during these 4 years. So, there is a movement and it is not hopeful if it continues, if there are government programs that we hope will be implemented in the future, it is a small initial basis to continue for the better. We are not going back 20 years ago. If this first step continues as it began, we as a union have hope and are optimistic that there will be turnarounds in agriculture, otherwise we have been very bad," he said.