Bulgaria – Serbia IPA Cross-border Programme, CCI Number 2007CB16IPO006

The Beekeeping as an Alternative to the Unemployment And a Steady Base for a Sustainable Development in the Bulgarian-Serbian Cross-Border Region

Project № 2007CB16IPO006-2011-2-96

Analysis of the potential of development of organic beekeeping in the Niš and Pirot district Serbian Union of Agricultural Engineers and Technicians

The project is co-funded by EU trough the Bulgaria –Serbia IPA Cross-border Programme

INTRODUCTION

• As in the majority of other countries, the border districts in Bulgaria and Serbia are less developed. One of the directions of enhancing economic state of these districts is base on the promotion and the development of rural enterprising. The convenient natural conditions, relative environment preservation and biodeversity presents good preconditions of the development of organic agriculture, for which the high degree of local inhabitants interest exist.

• The total turnover of organic food at the world marke generated in 2011 amounted to 63.8 billions US$, which is an increase for 48.6 billion US$ or 4.2 times greater than 1999 when 15.2 billion US$.

Europe took share in the world market of organic food in 2011 by 21,5 billion US$.

The market of organic food is increasing in Europe, where Germany is the top leader with 6,59 billion € (30%), and France follows with 3,76 billion €(17%).

• The estimated value of organic production market of the Former Yugoslavia (Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro) in 2010 amounted to 120 million €, out of which Serbia achieved 40 billion € turnover (Jansen and Schaer, 2012).

Current situation in organic beekeeping in Serbia The data from the

Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection

of the Republic of Serbia in 2014 години shows

: • 1337 bee colonies in the status of conversion for the organic beekeeping production, • 603 bee colonies are certified for the organic beekeeping.

The District of Southern and Eastern Serbia includes:

• 717 bee colonies in the period of conversion • 450 bee colonies certified for the organic beekeeping.

Law Regulations of the Organic Beekeeping in Serbia

• European Union adopted the following legal regulations of organic agriculture : (bylaws) in the area •

Legal acts of the Council (EC) no. 834/2007 and labeling of organic products оn organic production

when came into effect replaced the legal acts

(EC) no. 2092/91

and •

Legal acts (EC) no. 889/2008

which prescribes the detailed rules for enforcing legal acts (EC) no. 834/2007.

• In Serbia due to the resulting legislative changes in the area of organic agricultural production in European Union and the requirement for national legislation in the sphere of organic agricultural production in European Union and the requirement for national legislation to meet the demands of European Union the following is adopted :

- The Law on organic production

(Official Gazette of Republic of Serbia 30/10) dated 07/05/2010 and based on this Law , The Rulebook was published next year and started to be applied

- The Rulebook on control and certification in organic production and methods of organic production

(Official Gazette of Republic of Serbia no. 48/11).

Figure1. Design of the logo and national logo for the organic product Figure 2. Design of the logo from the conversion period

Table1. Protected areas and the numbers of national parks in Serbia and surrounding countries

Source: http://www.ceecec.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/SEE-Report_Serbian.pdf

Country Protected Territory (%) Number of national parks Serbia 6,5 5 FRY Macedonia Croatia 7,13 6,49 3 8 Bulgaria 9,53 3 Bosnia and Herzegovina Albany 0,53 2,4 2 6 • Republic of Serbia is characterized by rich, heterogeneous and natural heritage and high mountain and mountain region presents one of six centers of the European biodiversity.

• Biodiversity of various groups of living organisms in Serbia is high, which can be vividly presented by the fact that the territory of Serbia has : 39% of European vascular flora; 51% of European fish fauna; 49% of European reptilian and amphibian fauna; 74% European bird fauna and 67% European mammals fauna.

Identification of the contamination sources in the Niš and Pirot District

• It is stated that in the territory of Nis and Pirot District the strategic documents from the municipalities in this territory show the preservation of biodiversity of flora and fauna.

• The Nis and Pirot District has a good quality land. The potential sources of contamination appear in the agriculture due to the irregular application of the pesticides and mineral fertilizers, as well as their irregular disposal.

• The potential risk comes from watercourses, which can be noticed from the example of the river Nisava, since the unfiltered waste waters from Pirot and Nis.

• In the majority of southeast Serbian towns the great problem arises in the villages, since there is no organized transportation of garbage, and therefore the illegal dumps.

• The problem arises also with the rural settlements without sewage system, and therefore contamination of the ground waters, water sources and wells appears.

Table 2. The areas with orchards as the source of bee garden contamination (%) Source: data processing of the author based on poll research Orchard close to bee garden yes no Agriculture as a contamination source Total yes no 40,9 44,6 85,5 2,7 11,8 14,5 total 43,6 56,4 100,0 Table 3. The areas of crop farming as a source of bee garden contamination Agriculture as a contamination source yes no Crop cultures close to bee garden yes no 30,6 12,9 29,6 26,9 total 43,5 Source: data processing of the author based on poll research 56,5 Total 60,2 39,8 100,0

Graph 3. The opinions of beekeepers on the most significant problems in honey production

 Insufficient subventions for beekeeping  bad purchasing power of the inhabitants  Lack of financial funds  Lack of honey grazing 0 50 150  Using chemical substances in agriculture  Lack of consciousness of the product consumers  costs of equipment, tools and accessories  Small market for placing honey and honey products  High costs of packing  Impossibility of exporting honey and honey products  Lack of certificates for the organic production  Difficulties in procurement of equipment, tools and accessories Source: data processing of the author based on poll research

Convenient regions and honey graying for organic beekeeping in Nis and Pirot District

• Organic beekeeping presents the development chance of the beekeeping in Serbia, especially in the border region which is being analyzed. The placing of products of the higher processing degree, especially organic honey per higher prices in relation to the products from the conventional beekeeping enables to the agricultural manufacturers – beekeepers to achieve higher income and enhance life standard.

Map 1. Protected natural resources and ecological network in the Nis and Pirot District

• The potential localities which can be highlighted for the organic beekeeping are conditioned not only by the ecologically clean environment, but also by the natural surrounding which provides to the honey bee enough quantity of nectar, pollen powder and clean water.

• The spring grazing in Nis and Pirot District is good for the development of bee colony. The beekeepers located their bee gardens mainly in the rural settlements near to the smaller or bigger local watercourses, where there are conditions for the early grazing, when the bees first collect pollen, and then nectar.

Figure 1. The bees in the spring grazing of European Cornel (

Cornus mas)

, cherry plum (

Prunus cerasifera)

, white clover (Trifolium repens).

Based on the empirical research the production of acacia and meadow honey in the Nis and Pirot District is the most dominant. The first acacia grazing starts from the municipality Razanj around 6 th May and going towards Svljig and Babusnica the period of acacia Inflorescence moves. From Nis and Svrljig towards Dimitrovgrad there are a number of localities convenient for meadow grazing which flourishes even till August.

• Out of the total number of interviewed beekeepers included in the empirical research carried out for the requirements of the Project, 81,3% produce acacia honey and 65,2% • produces meadow honey.

A beekeeper produces averagely 546 kg of acacia honey, i.e. 292 kg of meadow honey.

• Therefore organic beekeeping in Nis and Pirot District should be based on utilization of these two greatest honey grazing.

Figure 2. Bee gardens based on acacia and meadow grazing

Broadly speaking

, the regions convenient for the organic beekeeping include the total territory of the municipalities Babusnica and Dimitrovgrad, as well as the micro localities from the other municipalities of Nis and Pirot District.

Strictly speaking

, beekeeping include the regions exclusively environment is completely preserved.

convenient micro regions for in the organic which the Source: Drafting of the author of the Study Map 3. The regions convenient for the organic beekeeping in Nis and Pirot District

Table 4. The regions convenient for the organic beekeeping in general sense Number of FAF with bee hives Number of bee hives Territory Number of Family agricultural farms (FAF*) Number Share in number of FAF Total Per FAF with bee hives Total territory The Republic of Serbia 631.552

31.287

5,0 668.120

21 Nis + Pirot District 43.156

2.621

6,1 47.505

Nis District Pirot District 31.283

11.873

1.675

946 5,4 8,0 31.572

15.933

The territory convenient for the organic beekeeping in general sense Nis + Pirot District 11.772

1033 8,8 17.645

Nis District Pirot District 6.592

5.180

504 529 7,6 10,2 9.371

8.274

Share of the territories for organic beekeeping in general sense in the total territory (%) 18 17 19 17 19 16 Nis + Pirot District 27,3 39,4 37,1 Nis District 21,1 30,1 29,7 Pirot District 43,6 55,9 51,9 •Family agricultural farms (FAF*) •Source: Data processing by the author based on the result of Census of Agriculture 2012 -

Table 5. The regions convenient for the organic beekeeping in narrow sense Number of FAF with bee hives Number of bee hives Territory Number of Family agricultural farms (FAF*) Number Share in number of FAF Total Per FAF with bee hives The Republic of Serbia 631.552

31.287

Укупна територија 5,0 668.120

21 Nis + Pirot District 43.156

2.621

6,1 47.505

18 Nis District Pirot District 31.283

1.675

5,4 31.572

11.873

946 8,0 15.933

The territory convenient for the organic beekeeping in narrow sense Nis + Pirot District Nis District Pirot District 8.529

644 7,6 11.468

6.592

1.937

504 140 7,6 7,2 9.371

2.097

Share of the territories for organic beekeeping in narrow sense in the total territory (%) 18 19 17 19 15 Nis + Pirot District 19,8 24,6 24,1 Nis District 21,1 30,1 29,7 Pirot District 16,3 14,8 13,2 •Family agricultural farms (FAF*) •Source: Data processing by the author based on the result of Census of Agriculture 2012 -

• Assuming that the total number of bee colonies from Nis and Pirot District (47.505) with the average yield amounting to 22 kg per bee hive serves the purpose of organic beekeeping, it might be possible to produce maximum 1.045

tones of organic honey.

• If the assumptions for including beekeeper in organic beekeeping are made on the basis of the developed European countries (which are defined at the level of 8% out of the total number of bee hives), the production of around 83,6 tones of organic honey in Nis and Pirot District might be expected.

• Preconditions for including in organic beekeeping exist since the sort of bee known as

Apis mellifera carnica

is raised in the bee gardens with the partial influences of

Apis mellifera macedonica.

• There are good localities with acacia and meadow grazing.

• Dadan Blat bee hive type dominates in the bee gardens and it can produce the pure sort honey even in the weaker grazing such as meadow grazing.

• The greatest number of beekeepers (53,60%) changes 30% of old honey comb during the beekeeping season and insert new honey comb foundations, 22,60% of the beekeepers throws out 20% of the old honey comb.

• The greatest number of beekeepers (80,3%) pack the honey in plastic package • The analyses of honey from this are have not detected any harmful residues.

SWOT anaylis of organic beekeeping in Nis and Pirot District Advantages Weaknesses

Convenient natural conditions Relatively preserved environment Existence of large spaces for good quality grazing Great interest of beekeepers Lack of knowledge concerning the demands of organic production (by beekeepers) The necessity for certification of the production Production fragmentation – small number of bee hives per beekeeper Lack of certified grazing for organic beekeeping (lack of land-registry of organic grazing) Lack of processing certified facility for processing and improving quality of honey

Opportunities

Increasing demand for honey from organic beekeeping Higher price of honey from organic beekeeping The possibility of exporting organic honey Production of other organic bee products Utilization of national and local subventions for organic production and beekeeping

Threats

High costs of certification Contamination from agriculture and industry Relatively difficult access to foreign markets with smaller packages of products

Potential of organic beekeeping development in Nis and Pirot District

• Large areas under acacia forest which dominates in the region of Nis (Public Enterpris “Srbija Sume” estimates the areas under acacia to be around 1148 ha) and rich meadow graze which dominates in Pirot District are potential which honey bee should utilize in the system of organic beekeeping.

• Specific feature of beekeeping in DB bee hive enables production of good quality honey sort.

• The risk is the choice and application of the means against mites

Varroa destructor

. By entering the process of certification for organic beekeeping the medicaments which are allowed in this production system must be used.

• The problem in organic beekeeping of this area might be the chemical contaminators from the agriculture and from other agricultural producers. By continual cooperation with the manufacturers in other segments of agricultural production, their education on methods of protecting their crops and plants in the manner which will not harm the bees, this problem might be successfully solved.

Economic effects of organic beekeeping

• Beekeepers are divided in four categories : “amateur “ beekeeper up to 20 bee hives; „small“ from 21 to 50 bee hives, “semi-professional“ from 51 to 100 bee hives and “professional “ beekeepers with more than 100 hives.

Table 6. The total revenues and expenses of the beekeepers dealing with organic production, at the annual level, per interval groups (in RSD) Number of bee hives in bee garden Revenues Expenses production – According to conventional Estimated certification costs Estimated costs of replacing honey comb foundations Total expenses Difference (revenues – expenses)

Up to 20 21 to 50 51 to 100 97.597

340.718

711.147

50.892

108.199

196.938

60.000

70.000

80.000

Over 100 1.483.194

472.868

90.000

Source: Data processed by the author of the Study based on the research

21.600

64.800

126.000

275.400

132.492

242.999

402.938

838.268

-34.895

97.720

308.209

644.926

• For the requirement of making calculation we assume that the costs of providing certificate are around 500 euros for the category of hobby beekeeper and that they are increasing linearly by the number of bee hives.

• Although the calculation is based on the expenses calculated for the conventional production there are certain differences in the costs made in organic beekeeping.

Conclusions and recommendations

• Among four statistic regions in Serbia (NUTS 2), organic agriculture is the most represented in the Region of Vojvodina (72% certified areas for plant production), The Region of South and East Serbia follows with (16%) – including Nis and Pirot which are the part of this Project.

• The results of the poll research in Nis and Pirot District indicate that : (1) 59,4% beekeepers want to engage in organic beekeeping; but (2) 46,0% beekeepers are not familiar with the requirements and standards of organic beekeeping.

• Based on the analysis of the condition and quality of air, water, land and biodiversity in certain municipalities in Nis and Pirot District, it is stated that there are no dangers of industrial contaminations.

• The application of the chemical agencies in the conventional agriculture is the potential danger – especially in the areas close to the orchards and because of the pesticides us during the inflorescence of the fruits (43% of the interviewed beekeepers), and to some extent from the watercourse contamination by utility waste water which are not filtered in the great number of municipality.

Three main goals of the enhancement of organic beekeeping in Nis and Pirot Districh have been defined :

(1) increase of the production of the food and higher market value organic honey; (2) more complete use of the available and enhanced honey flora in the localities which meet the demands of the organic beekeeping; (3) increase of employment and revenues of the beekeepers in more valuable market production of organic honey and other organic bee products.

• Out of the total number of interviewed beekeepers

honey,

and

65,2% meadow honey 81,3% produces acacia

, so that the organic beekeeping in Nis and Pirot District should be based primarily on the utilization of these two greatest honey graze.

• In the territory convenient for the organic beekeeping in Nis and Pirot District

broadly speaking

there are 1.033 bee gardens with 17.645 bee hives or 37,1% of their total number in the territory included in this Project, in which a bee garden produces averagely 22 kg of honey, which means that we can expect the production of

around 388 tones of organic honey.

• If in the territories convenient for the development of the organic beekeeping in Nis and Pirot District only micro localities are included

in narrow sense

, i.e. the villages in which the preserved environment without the potential contaminators is identified, the capacities of 644 bee gardens with 11.468 bee hives or 24,1% of their total number may produce around

252 tones of organic honey

.

• If the potentials of the organic beekeeping in Nis and Pirot District are calculated

on the basis of the average of the developed European countries

total number of bee hives), we can expect the production of (8% out of

84 tones of organic honey

.

In order to achieve the stated goals it is recommended :

• to force the activities of the beekeeper associations regarding the principles and standards of the organic beekeeping; • the constant education for the purpose of increasing knowledge and skills of the beekeepers in the organic production; • organizational and financial motivation of the beekeepers to convert from conventional to organic production; • increasing the capacities for improving the quality of honey, package and placement of the organic honey and other organic bee products in the new established beekeeping union or organizational and economically even more perspective regional branch of the National beekeeping union; • cooperation with other unions of the agricultural workers for the purpose of controlling and reducing the contamination from agriculture; • increased control and protection of the environment; and • making of the land registries for the honey grazing in the regions convenient for the development of the organic beekeeping.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union throughthe Cross-Border Programme CCI No 2007CB16IPO006. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of Beekeepers Association “Kovanluk” and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union or the Managing Authority of the Programme