Improvement of the Agricultural Market Information System Serbia Agribusiness Project

Brief history of the system  May 2003 – development of the Serbian market information system in agriculture with the support of USDA  May 2004 – portal set up at  2005 – TV show AGROINFO on national broadcaster  May 2005 – Serbia becomes a member of AGRIMIS (19 European countries)  September 2008 – 317,064 prices of 148 cultures/products: 15,014 detailed reports in 37 categories and 423 subcategories. Serbia Agribusiness Project

Overarching Goals of System Collection of data on supply, demand and price trends of selected agricultural products in green market, wholesale markets, livestock markets, slaughterhouses and silos Analysis of the collected data and dissemination of market information on selected agricultural products (fruits, vegetables, livestock, cereals, feed and inputs) Enable farmers, creators of the agrarian policy, enterprises and other participants in making sound business decisions regarding production and marketing of agricultural products Serbia Agribusiness Project

Detail reports on prices

Project’s goals regarding the STIPS  Reliable crop/livestock production and market price information system operated within the Ministry of Agriculture (methodology to be used: annual or semi- annual survey on client satisfaction designed and implemented, including data validation and reporting)  Number of producers and firms trained in the use of market information & production data Serbia Agribusiness Project

Client Satisfaction Survey Number of products in STIPS 1% 11% 36% 45% 7% Very unsatisfied Unsatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very satisfied Accuracy of information on prices 1% 9% 43% 41% 6% Very unsatisfied Unsatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very satisfied Timely provision of information on prices 2% 14% 36% 42% 6% Very unsatisfied Unsatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very satisfied Quality of detail reports 0% 12% 48% 35% 5% Very unsatisfied Unsatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very satisfied

Project’s Scope of Work on STIPS The Working Group formed by the Ministry and the USAID Agribusiness Project developed the proposal for improvement of STIPS encompassing:  Software improvement; and  Awareness campaign – Project “Market analysis, utilization of information from STIPS and basics of marketing” Serbia Agribusiness Project

Software Improvement STAGE 1.  Reorganization and redesign of the website with special attention paid at the improvement of data security  Improvement of the news system (text editors for user friendly environment of news editors, reorganization of categories and sub categories, providing space for information from the surrounding countries, other markets, weather forecast, interesting trivia)  Reconstruction of the STIPS online prices system –improvements to the administrative system for entering prices coming from the reporters –providing additional cells to the online price database (minimum and maximum value, trend, supply, and comment)

STAGE 2.  Development of the specialized development tool, client/server application for report analysis for providing more complete information about prices to the Ministry and IPN structures for the purpose of making timely and adequate decisions and processing of the large quantities of data in a short period of time. STAGE 3.  Seminar to train the reporters to work with the improved STIPS software and database. Serbia Agribusiness Project Software Improvement…continuing

Layer for entering information on prices

Serbia Agribusiness Project

Analytics

 Interactive seminars and workshops for farmers in 18 reporting centers for STIPS  Two day seminars.  Implementation period: 10 months Serbia Agribusiness Project Market analysis, utilization of information from STIPS and basics of marketing”

Farmers are thoroughly trained in the use of information available through STIPS, including information type, structure, manner of accessing information, and analysis possible based on the available information (e.g. formation of prices, price structures, alternative markets, and trends in supply, production volumes, market surplus, etc). Serbia Agribusiness Project

 Farmers are educated about the agricultural markets in the region. Specific emphases are given on analysis of the agricultural markets for specific commodities produced in those regions. In addition, local markets are analyzed in more detail manner, with a special overview of all available possibilities for marketing of agricultural commodities locally. Serbia Agribusiness Project  Training in basics of marketing and direct sales. At present, there is a low awareness among farmers on how to conduct negotiations, set prices, properly clean, pack and display products.  Interactive workshops where farmers have the chance to develop commodity specific marketing plans.

 Law on Agriculture regulates operation of STIPS  Commodity exchange for agricultural products (Pilot project)  Development of the input database  Linking with the Register of Agricultural Households  Development of the database of producers  Standardization Serbia Agribusiness Project Future plans