DJAKOVO, March 28 (Hina) - The union of farmers' associations from Slavonia and Baranja re-elected Antun Laslo as head of the union at an annual convention held in Gorjani near the eastern town of Djakovo on Sunday.
DJAKOVO, March 28 (Hina) - The union of farmers' associations from
Slavonia and Baranja re-elected Antun Laslo as head of the union at an
annual convention held in Gorjani near the eastern town of Djakovo on
Sunday.#L#
The convention was attended by over 100 farmers from five counties who
took the opportunity to criticise the government for its treatment of
agricultural producers, demand protection from imports and trade
lobbies, and seek a privileged position for farmers buying state-owned
farmland.
Union secretary Stanko Zdravcevic made a case for the regionalisation
of domestic farm production, greater incentives and subsidies, and
control to prevent the grey economy on the flour and meat markets.
Speaking of the privatisation of state-owned land, Zdravcevic said
that "before admission to the European Union every piece of Croatian
land should be owned by Croatian peasants".
Responding to questions from farmers, Ljupko Tabakovic, an adviser at
the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, said that
the purpose of the measures to be introduced by the Ministry, such as
flour stamps, was to regulate the situation on the market.
Tabakovic announced that the National Commodity Buffer Stocks Agency
would buy off a surplus of about 8,000 head of young cattle, and that
50 per cent of outstanding incentives for last year's spring sowing
would be paid in the first week of April.
"The Ministry will in a very short time show its good intentions and
determination to regulate the situation in domestic agricultural
production," Tabakovic said.
Laslo said that Croatian farmers were not yet ready for EU entry. "We
should not rush into the European Union until agricultural subsidies
are equal to those in EU countries," he added.
(Hina) vm