Eighteen months after floods washed away the livelihoods of thousands of farm households, Serbian agriculture is getting back on track – thanks to help from the European Union and FAO.

A second phase of assistance for central and western Serbia started in the summer and is now close to completion. More than 7 400 smallholder families were targeted with multiple forms of support, enabling them to get back on their feet and resume production. The programme as a whole has reached almost 34 000 families.

After receiving crop seed and fertilizer packages, some 5 000 farming families in 29 municipalities were able to plant their fields this fall with winter barley and wheat.

Distribution of fruit tree seedlings has continued, too. Approximately two million newly planted plum, cherry and sour cherry trees – not to mention raspberries – should be in blossom come spring.

In total, 856 greenhouses complete with drip irrigation systems have been provided and installed, about one third of these in the past six months. Greenhouses are important for vegetable growing because they give farmers greater control over the growing environment. Some crops, such as lettuces, can be cultivated in greenhouses well beyond their natural growing season.