Impressions of the project

Mr. Gvozden Dzelatovic is a mechanical engineer who owns a very successful private company in Jagodina. He planted blueberries a few years ago because he realized that it would be a great way to make a steady income and he could leave the business to his children one day. This is what he told us:

            „My story of growing blueberries started with a lecture in Belanovica, near Arandjelovac. It was held by Mr. Richard A. Dale, a blueberry grower from Wisconsin, USA. The presentation was organized by USAID and Serbia Agribusiness project.

After finishing the work on blueberry plantation on the area of 35 ares, I started to think about spreading the story on blueberry growing at the territory of the Jagodina municipality. I shared my thoughts with the director of the Jagodina library, Mrs. Vesna Crnkovic and she told me that there is a project- AgroLib Ja within this institution that brought together agricultural producers and those who intended to engage in agricultural production. After a short discussion, we concluded that the presentation on blueberry growing would be a good starting point for our further work and we scheduled three lectures. Since the Jagodina library made a good media preparation, the lectures were very well visited although the weather was very bad (it was snowing hard). The participants asked very serious questions at the presentation because they were fruit growers and were familiar with both good and bad sides of fruit growing in our area. Numerous questions and comments after the lecture showed that there was a considerable interest in blueberries growing in Jagodina.

            At one of the presentations, while I was explaining to the audience that insects attacked the blueberry flowers, one of the participants asked what the way to neutralize these insects was. I gave vague answers and then thought that I could answer specifically through my own example. However, the person that asked me the question actually gave the answer to it. It was then that I realized that the audience listened to my presentation very carefully and that they had extensive knowledge in this agricultural field. Since the agricultural lectures in the town and the village libraries were highly visited, I realized how much trust these people, excellent farmers, had in the choice of topics and experts that the project team hired.

Some of my friends tried to organize something similar, and they experienced a debacle, because there were only a few farmers interested and I became aware of the words by the director Vesna Crnkovic who told me the previous day how much time and effort the project team needed to gain the confidence of farmers. In fact, our state-Serbia made a lot of mistakes regarding farmers which led to mistrust, even resistance to government institutions. Such a large number of farmers respond only to someone who understends their needs, who offers quality and has never let them down.

            After the first round of presentations we decided to organize two more, and then we invited Mr. Ivan Djuknic from Belanovica, Arandjelovac- a pioneer in blueberries growing in Serbia. Just like the first three, these presentations were very-well visited and there were a lot of questions. Mr. Djuknic was pleasantly surprised by the interest of the people in our region in blueberries growing and suggested to start a branch of the Cooperative Prima Borovnica from Belanovica here in Jagodina. This idea was accepted and now we are in the process of registration of the branch in Jagodina. We hope that the registration will be finished in a month or two and then we will have a presentation on a plantation near Jagodina. In consultation with the director Vesna Crknovic, the lecture in the field could be realized in May when blueberries bloom.

            After the presentation, I had several meetings with people interested in planting blueberries. I am sure that we will have new plants next autumn at the Jagodina municipality and I look forward to it.

            I want to say that the Jagodina Library project AgroLib Ja left a strong impression on me, and also the project team which with open heart and with great care and respect helps farmers get right information at the right time. I would like to see this project implemented in other parts of Serbia because it is very useful. I plan to continue to cooperate and promote the AgroLib Ja project”, concludes his story a blueberry grower from Jagodina, Mr. Gvozden Dzelatovic.