Students and teachers from the Secondary Boarding School of Agriculture Priština - Lešak, accompanied by farmers from the Leposavić municipality visited the 90th International Agricultural Fair yesterday in order to see all the novelties in the field of agriculture. This field trip was organised upon the initiative of the school and it was supported by the Office for Kosovo and Metohija and the Novi Sad Fair.
- The Office pays special attention to agriculture and provides subsidies to farmers in Kosovo and Metohija to help them work and live off their work, said the deputy director of the Office Veselin Kočanović. – We are particularly careful to give advantage to those aged 18-40, but also to support women entrepreneurs, so that we could create the conditions for the young people to stay in Kosovo and Metohija.
It is our wish for them not only to stay in their places of origin, but also to achieve good results in the work they do, which would make their stay easier. The students and farmers have an opportunity to see the novelties from Serbia and abroad at this event and I hope that would help them love their chosen profession even more.
The head teacher at the School of Agriculture Bojan Ignjatović pointed out that a visit to the Fair meant a lot to everyone, since there was so much to see and learn here, which could later be applied in agricultural production.
- Our school is supposed to be the leader of agricultural development in our area or even in the whole region, because we are located in the north, close to the Raška District, which is why we even have students from there. You know, agriculture is not what it used to be. Modern technology is applied and we need to keep up to date in order to be competitive, Ignjatović pointed out.
A farmer from Leška Radašin Vukomanović deals with livestock breeding and breeds sows and piglets. This is not his first visit to the Fair and this year he has come to see the offer and perhaps learn something he could use in his production. His colleague from the nearby village of Kutnje Dragiša Lakićević is the third generation of livestock breeders and fruit growers in his family. He breeds Simmental cows and has an apple orchard on one hectare of land.
- Our living and working conditions are not easy, we come from a region with lots of problems, not only in agriculture, says Lakićević. – We are trying hard, finding ways out of difficult situations and it would be much easier if we had an association. Living off agriculture used to be more difficult, because now we can advertise our products online and sell them from our homes. For more young people to get interested in agriculture, we would need to create conditions that would keep them in villages, including providing right information, which is why a visit to the Fair is a step in the right direction.
A third-year student of the School of Agriculture Damjan Miljković is at the Fair for the second time and he says he expects to see many thing that will be useful during his education and later, because his plan is to stay in his village.
The International Agricultural Fair has been visited by more than 130 students from Lešak and farmers from the Leposavić municipality, who followed a group of farmers from Gračanica and Priština, who visited the Fair on the first day. Guests from Kosovo Polje are expected to visit the event in the days to come.
