SAG/70

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION CONDUCTS CROP ASSESSMENT MISSION IN KOSOVO 5-13 JANUARY

ROME, 28 January (FAO) -- In August 1999, an FAO/World Food Programme Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission to the Kosovo Province of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia reported significant reduction in the Province's agricultural output in 1999 due to civil unrest, which had been prevalent in some areas since March 1998 but escalated throughout most of the Province in the period between March to early June 1999. The Mission noted that the losses incurred would have both nutritional and economic consequences for the population who would remain heavily reliant on external assistance to meet basic food needs at least until the spring of 2000.

Reducing the dependence of the Kosovo population on food aid in 1999/2000 depends largely on the speed of recovery and rehabilitation in the agriculture sector. In June 1999 the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) established an Emergency Coordination Unit in Pristina to ensure that a coherent and technically sound agricultural assistance programme is implemented in Kosovo, through the coordination of the various partners involved in emergency agricultural relief operations. In addition, the FAO initiated various project activities that address in a comprehensive manner the needs for assistance in the agricultural sector, including supply of fertilizer, wheat and vegetable seeds, fielding of agricultural experts, establishment of a seed quality control laboratory, repair of farm machinery and livestock vaccination.

In the autumn of 1999, a priority area of concern for the FAO was assistance to the winter wheat seeding campaign. Wheat is the basic cereal staple of the Province and planning relief assistance in 2000 will depend greatly on the outcome of the wheat harvest from July. In this context, an FAO Crop Assessment Mission visited Kosovo from 5 to 13 January 2000, principally to assess the early prospects for the 2000 wheat harvest, but also to assess the general agricultural situation at the outset of 2000.

The Mission visited 21 of the 29 municipalities in Kosovo. In 9 of the major cereal growing municipalities discussions were held with local agricultural experts. For a further seven important cereal producing municipalities, information was obtained from interviews with key informants from non-governmental organizations responsible for the distribution of

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agricultural inputs, namely Action Against Hunger, World Vision International and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Assessment of the situation in the remaining 13 municipalities, which normally account for only 25 per cent of the area planted to winter cereals, was based on data which has been collected by the FAO Emergency Unit in Pristina during the course of its operations since June 1999.

The Mission estimated that the area planted to winter wheat in 1999 is about 79,000 hectares the bulk of which, given the current level of security and internal stability, will be harvested in 2000. Yields are expected to vary according to seed source and the level of input use, but on average will be lower than pre-1990 and similar to 1997/1998 at 2.75 tonnes per hectare. Yields in Kosovo are noted to have decreased significantly in the early 1990s, because of a substantial reduction in fertilizer use. This estimate is based on the reported level of basal fertilizer use at sowing and expectations of somewhat limited access to fertilizers for top dressing in the spring. The Mission noted the potential for increased yields if good applications of nitrogenous fertilizers can be assured in the spring.

With regard to the primary feed cereal grown in Kosovo, maize, the Mission found that farmers intend to plant about 100,000 hectares this summer. Plans are already in hand to supply seeds and fertilizers for nearly 50 per cent of the expected area to a targeted group of the most vulnerable farmers. It is expected that the remaining seeds and fertilizers will be purchased from local markets using marketing chains currently being re-established by local agricultural merchants.

Given the abundance of weeds in last year's harvested and unharvested cereal crops, reduced cultivation practices where tractors were in short supply, and the lack of herbicide use in the autumn, weeds are expected to be a major problem this summer. Excessive weed competition would reduce yields even lower than those currently estimated by the Mission and international support for spring weed control on winter wheat and summer sown maize, through improved access to herbicides and spraying equipment, should be a priority for the coming months.

The full Special Report is prepared by FAO's Global Information and Early Warning System and will be available shortly on the Internet as part of the FAO World Wide Web at the following URL address: http://www.fao.org/giews/ This news release is only available in English; or contact: John Riddle, FAO Media Officer, Telephone: (39) 06 5705 32 59 E-mail: [email protected]

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