AGRICULTURE MINISTER MEETS CROATIAN FARMERS' ASSOCIATION HEAD

ZAGREB, Aug 30 (Hina) - Croatian Agriculture Minister Ivan Djurkic on Monday met the president of the Croatian Farmers' Association (HSS), Ivan Kolar, to discuss the operational plan for this autumn's sowing. Kolar said his association had not had the opportunity to discuss the plan before it was adopted and therefore believed it had been imposed on farmers. Djurkic said today's meeting with the leader of one of Croatian farmers' associations was an exception, adding similar meetings would not be held in the future. The two officials also discussed the results of previous seasons and the situation on the corn market. Speaking about this autumn's sowing, Kolar repeated HSS's stand that the guaranteed price of wheat (yield 2000) should amount to one kuna per kilogram with a foreign exchange clause, and that the production of wheat should be subsidised by the state with 2,000 kuna (about DM600) per hectare, with incentives to be paid as early as this autumn. The ministry has suggested a plan of sowing for which it believes to suit the current situation in the economy, Djurkic said. He said the price of wheat guaranteed by the state (75 lipas per kilogram) was the lower limit. The state would purchase wheat from farmers at this price only in the event no other buyers come up, which does not mean the wheat will not achieve an even higher price, he said. Djurkic refuted claims saying wheat would have to be imported around New Year. There will be enough wheat, these insinuations prior to the elections are exclusively politically motivated, he said. (hina) rml