The crisis caused by the pandemic and the energy crisis have dealt a big blow to the agricultural sector, say farmers in North Macedonia.

Farmers say that these successive crises have caused them to face high prices of oil, artificial fertilizers and other preparations necessary for agricultural production, which according to them have increased by 100 percent.

Meanwhile, agricultural products have recorded an increase of 10 to 15 percent.

Frosina Georgievska from Resnja, which is located in the south of North Macedonia - a region where 90 percent of the population ensures their survival from the production of apples - tells Radio Free Europe that the production of apples and plums, which her family cultivates, only within the year has exceeded twice the expenses.

"From last year until now, expenses for the production of apples have doubled.

This includes oil, electricity and labor.

Meanwhile, the price of apples in the last ten years has hardly changed at all.

As apple producers, we cannot even cover the basic costs, let alone invest in agricultural equipment, in accordance with contemporary standards, as this is impossible", says Georgievska.

Georgievska says that the biggest problem is that there is unfair competition in the agricultural sector.

"We don't have a real agrarian policy that would protect farmers, who make their living through agriculture," she says.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture, every few years, allocates grants from 10 to 20 thousand euros to young farmers, in order to promote the development of agriculture and the cultivation of agricultural land.

This institution says that more than 1,000 young farmers have benefited from the grants and subsidies they share.

However, Mehmet Sinani, a farmer from Tetova, does not agree with this fact.

He tells Radio Free Europe that there is a shortage of workers in agriculture, as according to him, young people have fled the country to work in the agricultural sector, as they have better conditions in European countries.

"Why do young people flee to European countries to work in agriculture?

Because when the 1st of every month comes, they get paid.

So, they have a safe salary, regardless of what it is.

Then they have guaranteed social security and are insured in the workplace from any kind of disaster.

We don't have job insurance in agriculture", says Sinani.

Otherwise, the analyzes made by the Federation of Farmers in North Macedonia have highlighted that during the last five years there has been an increase in poverty among families engaged in agriculture, namely families living in rural areas.

From this federation, it says that poverty among farmers will affect further migration of the population from rural areas.

"I want to appeal that a greater commitment is needed in terms of providing food, evaluating the work of farmers and the population that engages in work in rural areas", Vaska Mojsovska, president of the Federation of Farmers in North Macedonia.

According to the latest official data, which are from the year 2020, North Macedonia had 1 million 265 thousand hectares of agricultural land, of which 517 thousand hectares this year were used as arable land for the cultivation of agricultural products, while the part the rest was used for pastures./REL/