Prica ravna suma

Visit to Farm "Ravna Šuma"

Village Prtopopinci, Dimitrovgrad

Shepherd serenades, stunning landscapes, traditional cheese, hard work and agricultural policy.

Coming to the close of the academic-industry visit for 2015 by the University of Almería researcher to ZIP Center in Pirot, we made a visit to Dimitrovgrad to visit the farm of Aleksandar Vasov, where 100 sheep and 80 goats are the mainstay of the farm. A superb mixed sheep and goat white cheese is produced amongst the rolling hills, clear streams and winding dirt roads. Local hospitality not only resulted in sampling the cheese and tomatoes from the garden, but also in an impromptu concert featuring traditional bagpipes and Caval, which are the common instruments of the shepherd, and in this case expertly played by Aleksandar Vasov.

 But farming is not only about beauty, culture and gastronomy—in the end, it is about the economic viability of the farm. In this case the farm is a family farm and the cheese is produced on site from the fresh morning milk. Family labour makes the farm viable, as in many places around the world. But the markets? Where are the markets for such a product? Until recently, almost all sales were destined for Belgrade and were direct sales to final customers. Customers also come directly from Bulgaria. Sales channels are based on relationships and word of mouth. Only recently,

 have local outlets begun to buy the product.  But economies of scale are still a problem in this area, a fact which is related not so much to the capacity of the local  farmers, but to the lack of infrastructure such as roads and internet coverage. Lack of consistency in national policy was also noted as being a hinderance to effective strategic planning. Organisational scale was also considered, and examples from various C-Bird partners such as Trento and Almería were discussed. These two latter areas also have small holding family farmers but have achieved efficiencies and economies of scale through organisational structures—predominantly agricultural cooperatives. As well in such regions, cooperative finance has also played a role.

 Rural tourism was also discussed as a multifunctional approach, and Aleksandar Vasov pointed out that they way in which they carry out rural tourism is not the standard B&B, but rather school and university visits, summer schools, working internships, international tourist group visits interested in biodiversity and ecology, collaboration with Slow Food, and synergies with traditional folk music activities.

 This visit was a good opportunity to compare and consider the stage in which southern Serbian agriculture finds itself, but one idea was shared by all parties: that agricultural policy must not be a “one size fits all” but rather fashioned to fit the particulars of the region.

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Poseta Farmi  "Ravna šuma"

Selo Prtopopinci, Dimitrovgrad

Pesma pastira, divni pejzaži, tradicionalni sveži sir, težak rad i politika razvoja poljoprivrede

Na samom kraju posete istraživača Univerziteta iz Almerije Zip centru za mlade doo iz Pirota u 2015. godini, organizovali smo posetu farmi Aleksandra Vasova ( Ravna šuma) u okolini Dimitrovgrada, koja ima 100 ovaca i 80 koza. Fantastičan beli sir se proizvodi od kozjeg i ovčeg svežeg mleka među brežuljcima, bistrim potocima i krivudavim blatnjavim putevima. Pored lokalnog gostoprimstva, degustaciji sira i paradajza iz bašte dobili smo i improvizovani koncert u bašti, koji nam je priredio vlasnik farme koji svira gajde i Kaval ( tradicionalni instrument pastira).

 Ali kada govorimo o poljoprivredi ne možemo samo govoriti o lepoti, kulturi i gastonomiji – moramo govoriti i o ekonomskoj održivosti farme. U ovom slučaju u pitanju je mala porodična farma na kojoj se proizvodi sir od svežeg jutarnjeg mleka. Angažovanje cele porodice održava farmu u životu, kao što je slučaj i sa mnogim farmama širom sveta. Ali postavlja se pitanje gde je tržište njihovih proizvoda? Do skoro se sav sir prodavao direktnim korisnicima u Beogradu. U skorije vreme dolazi mnogo kupaca iz susedne Bugarske. Lanac prodaje se bazira na ličnim kontaktima i reklami „od usta do usta“.

 Povećanje obima proizvodnje ne zavisi ovde od kapaciteta farme već od nedostatka infrastrukture ( pre svega puteva i interneta) kao i od nedoslednosti nacionalne politike, što onemogućuje farmerima strateško planiranje. Farmeru su takođe predstavljeni primeri Almerije i Trenta gde su mali farmeri uspeli da povećaju svoj obim proizvodnje udrućivanjem prvenstveno u zadrugama.

 Razgovaralo se i o ruralnom turizmu kao multifunkcionalnom pristupi i Aleksandar Vasov je istakao da se oni ne bave klasičnim seoskim turizmom, pružanjem prenoćišta i hrane, već organizuju posete Univerzitetima, letnjim školama kao i studentima ( domaćim i stranim) zainteresoivanim za biodivirzitet i ekologiju. Imaju takođe veoma uspešnu saradnju sa organizacijom „Slow food“.

 Ova poseta je bila idealna prilika da se sagleda stanje poljoprivrede u Jugoistočnoj Srbiji. Jedan zaključak se nametnuo na kraju: Politika poljoprivrednog i ruralnog razvoja ne može biti jednaka za sve u Srbiji, mora biti različita i bazirana na regionalnim razlikama i specifičnostima.