Analysis of the use of certified seeds оn family farms in the republic of Serbia

Abstract

Seed quality, which is the basis of crop production, is one of the main factors that determines yield, product quality and production stability as a whole. According to various estimates, the use of certified seeds in the Republic of Serbia has been declining in recent years, which brings with it numerous risks in production. The aim of this paper was to analyze the state of use of certified wheat, soybean and alfalfa seeds on family agricultural farms, but also to assess that the use of certified seeds in production is related to the physical size of the farm. For the purposes of this research, data from a survey conducted in 2021 and 2022 were used, and included 2101 agricultural farms engaged in the production of wheat, soybeans and alfalfa. Farm surveys were conducted according to a specially created questionnaire, which enabled a methodical way of collecting data from respondents selected in the sampling process. Descriptive statistics methods were used for data processing, and the obtained results were presented tabularly and graphically. The results of the research showed that 62.5% of surveyed farms engaged in the production of wheat on their production areas use certified seeds of this crop and that these are mostly farms with a size of 50 to 100 ha. Certified soybean seeds are used by 52.3%, while certified alfalfa seeds are used by 75.6% of farms producing these crops, which have up to 50 ha or more than 50 ha of used agricultural land. On the other hand, only 4.4% of farms declared that they do not use certified seeds in wheat production, 11.2% of the total number of surveyed soybean producers do not use certified seeds, while 13.4% of surveyed farms base their alfalfa production on non-certified seeds. In terms of farm size, these are mainly farms with up to 10 ha, or less than 5 ha of used agricultural land. At the same time, the survey analyzed the reasons for using uncertified seeds. The high price of certified seed is a limiting factor for 61.8% of farms that produce wheat, 60.3% of soybean producers and 43.3% of surveyed farms that grow alfalfa. The second most significant limiting factor is the belief that seeds from own production of wheat (19.7%), soybeans (13.6%) and alfalfa (33.0%) are of better quality than certified seeds. From the obtained research results, it can be concluded that there is a need to educate agricultural producers about the importance of using certified seeds, which is reflected in long-term business, and not only through the analysis of one-year results, which in some seasons indicate greater savings by avoiding investments in certified seeds.