Skopje, 8 May 2023 (MIA) - North Macedonia fares better than the European average regarding the reduced use of fertilizers and pesticides, broadband coverage in rural areas and greenhouse gas emissions, but not in regard to organic production, diversity and protected areas, shows the latest World Bank report on Macedonian agriculture.

Report "Green Growth in North Macedonia‘s Agriculture Sector" presented on Monday notes that farmers in the country have limited entrepreneurial capabilities and technical skills but are also financially limited in their opportunities for investments and growth.

The World Bank recommends that North Macedonia aligns its policies for development of the agriculture sector in order to get closer to the European Green Deal targets, align state support with the EU Acquis, remove barriers and create conditions for development of organic production, as well as ensure improved market access to organic farmers.

It is necessary to support the adoption of smart practices by agribusinesses and farmers in order to enable continued access to EU markets and European funds, but also increase the resilience of the agriculture sector, especially to climate change.

On the quality of fertilizers and the way in which pesticides are used, the World Bank notes that farmers do not rely much on expert information, whereas the administrative capacity for monitoring, analysis and counseling is poor.

"Progress in organic production is slow, there is limited networking between producers and processors, whereas access to markets is not easy. Regarding the use of fertilizers, the drop is visible and close to the 2030 target, while with pesticides there are ambiguities on the lack of data, but it seems that the country fares better than the EU average in this parameter as well. Nevertheless, only 5-10 percent of farmers document the use of fertilizers, while most use fertilizers without soil analysis. On the use of pesticides, a better advisory and stricter inspection system is required," says Demetris Psaltopoulos, World Bank senior expert on agriculture policies.

Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy Ljupcho Nikolovski said such reports reflect North Macedonia's ambitions for green growth, the needs for structural reforms, the measures for protection from the impact of climate change, harmonization of safety standards with the EU, controlled use of pesticides and fertilizers, as well as the possibilities for digital transformation.