ORGANIC PRODUCTION OPENS NEW JOBS

05.03.2010.

In Palilula Municipality, City of Nis the representatives of partner municipalities and representatives of partner institutions, signed a Statements of partnership and cooperation and Agreement on consortium regarding the project "Creating jobs through organic fruit production`.

On behalf of the applicant's project, Palilula Municipality, Nis region, contract, and a statement was signed by PhD Igor Novakovic, Municipal president, on the behalf of project partners: Slobodan Todorovic, president of Merošina Municipality – Nis Region,  Zoran Vuckovic, Kursumlija Municipality - Toplica Region, Nebojsa Milosavljevic, Blace Municipality- Toplica Region and in the name of the project partners - Violeta Maklenović, director of the Agricultural professional service - Nis and Milos Ristic, director of the Center for viticulture and enology in Nis.

According to Novakovic president, this project, after approval, will last fourteen months, will be financed under the "Regional socio-economic development program" (RDEPR 2) of the European Community, represented by the European Commission Delegation to Serbia. "The overall objective is to strengthen the capacity for making and implementing policies that would achieve comparable territorial socio-economic development of Serbia in accordance with the requirements of EU accession`-Novakovic said. The specific objective is to improve the capacity of Municipal and Regional interest groups and Regional development agencies in terms of interventions that enable the creation of new jobs at the regional and sub-regional levels. As target groups of the project stated were the population of unemployed and of Nisava Toplica counties rural areas, four municipalities of two border regions, farmers associations, agricultural cooperatives, professional public, services related to production, marketing and consumption of fruits, local government including representatives of government and institutions.

The representatives of local authorities (Nis-Palilula, Merošina, Blace and Kuršumlija) – partners, recognized the opportunities offered by the market of organic products and decided to focus its efforts on the development of local organic production as a means of providing opportunities for profit and decent way of life and family. The organic production is a huge potential, as pointed participants of this meeting in Palilula. To generate revenue, there are additional opportunities for involvement of farmers and producers of organic agricultural production (job creation) in private sector through increased competitiveness and fruit and soft fruits export.