Subotica farmers get no date for second subsidy payment
Serbia's Agrarian Payments Directorate says the public call will come between September and November, though payment was promised before autumn sowing.
The Agrarian Payments Directorate told the Association of Agricultural Producers of Subotica (UPPS) on October 12, 2026 that the public call for the second installment of basic crop subsidies will be published between September and November, “when the appropriate conditions are met.” No date, amount or conditions were given, and autumn sowing is already under way.
What did the minister promise in February?
Agriculture Minister Dragan Glamocic announced on February 24, 2026, at a session of the parliamentary Agriculture Committee, that the second installment would be paid before autumn sowing and would not be smaller than the year before. The same announcement was published on the Serbian government’s website. The association says farmers concluded from this that they could count on the money when planning autumn production.
The sources give neither the per-hectare subsidy nor the size of the first installment, so the only known measure of the second installment is the promise that it will not fall below last year’s.
What did the Directorate answer to six questions?
On September 30, UPPS sent the ministry a freedom of information request with six questions about how the announced second installment would be carried out. The sequence of events so far:
- February 24: Minister Glamocic announces payment before autumn sowing
- September 30: the association sends its request with six questions
- October 12: the Agrarian Payments Directorate replies
- October 15: the association publicly demands the amount, conditions and deadline
The association singles out one sentence from the reply: “There is currently no document that could give the requester answers to the questions asked.” It therefore asks which conditions have to be met in October if payment was announced back in February, and what has changed over the past eight months.
Why does the pre-sowing deadline matter for farms?
In its statement, the association argues that seed, mineral fertilizer, fuel and other inputs have to be secured before entering the field, not when the administration decides the conditions are met. It adds that oilseed rape is sown in August and September, and wheat and barley during the autumn. It describes the year as one marked by drought, bad weather, high production costs and uncertain purchase prices.
The calendar of public calls, the association recalls, was presented as an instrument meant to allow more reliable planning. In its view, a window from September to November with no precise date and no clear conditions provides no such certainty. The association also poses a broader set of questions:
“Where are the systemic solutions that have been talked about for years? Where is a predictable agrarian policy? Where are the amounts defined in advance, the clear deadlines and the rules that allow farmers to plan production?”
Farmers must meet their obligations within set deadlines, UPPS says, and the same responsibility must apply to the institutions whose decisions their livelihood depends on. The statement ends with a demand: “We are not asking for privileges. We are asking for transparency, accountability, predictability and respect for publicly spoken words.” The association also says farmers do not need new promises, but systemic solutions, clear rules and respect for deadlines.
It sums up its message to the Ministry of Agriculture in two sentences: “Autumn sowing has its calendar. The Ministry of Agriculture should know it.” As of publication, we have found no ministry response to the statement. The association has said it will keep insisting on concrete answers and timely payment of the announced subsidies.
