Alternative small grains in organic production

Abstract

The beginnings of the development of organic production in Serbia are connected with the increase of the area under alternative small grain types, with which organic crop rotation began on many farms. The advantage of these species, except in terms of weed control in the beginning, especially if the soil is not used in production, is to provide the market with a high level of demanded and healthy food products. The needs for these products still exceed the amount produced, partly due to insufficient areas and largely due to lower grain yields of these growed species. There are a number of alternative plants that have been grown in the past, have been neglected and forgotten over time (spelt, buckwheat, etc.). However, today, before these species, new plant species are included in the production, which were not grown in our area before (quinoa, canary grass), and were very unknown to our producers. After a maximum of 100,000 ha under buckwheat (2015 year), the areas under this species are declining and so in 2019 year they amount to only 20,000 ha. Organic triticale production also had a maximum in 2015 (140,000 ha), but there was no significant decline in areas, so in 2019, a similar area remained. On the other hand, the areas under spelt have been constantly growing in the last ten years, from a modest few hundred ha in 2011, to almost 300,000 ha in 2019. Agricultural areas and soils of the Republic of Serbia have extremely favorable agroecological conditions for growing alternative small grain types in the system of organic production, especially on smaller areas. On the other hand, the fact that a certain amount of alternative small grain types is imported to Serbia, indicates that these plant species are not grown to the extent that they could, both in terms of importance and needs.