ZAGREB, 25 April (Hina) - Members of the Croatian Parliament agreed on Thursday that the consolidation of agricultural land is one of the priorities for domestic agriculture, as around three-quarters of farmers use land parcels of up to five hectares.
On average, a farmer uses seven hectares, which is below the EU average of 17.4 hectares, said independent MP Marijana Petir, who, like the other MPs, supports the proposal to amend the Agricultural Land Consolidation Act, which aims to address the fragmentation of agricultural land and speed up the consolidation process by easing the procedure for obtaining landowners' consent.
Instead of requiring consent from at least 50% plus one landowner, provided they own at least 67% of the total area involved in the consolidation, consent from at least 5% of landowners, who together hold at least 10% of the land to be consolidated, will suffice, Minister of Agriculture David Vlajčić explained.
Additionally, the Ministry of Agriculture will have the option to carry out land consolidation on a specific area in the public interest, without the consent of landowners, if more than half of the land is state-owned.
Land involved in the consolidation can span one or more municipalities or cities, and individual parcels of land can be included or excluded from the consolidation area.
Branka Juričev Martinčev of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) said that landowners are concerned that the consolidation could take place without their consent.
The minister allayed these concerns, explaining that in cooperation with municipalities and cities, no one would be left uninformed, and citizens would be aware of how to protect their interests and rights.
In response to Dubravka Lipovac Pehar of the Homeland Movement (DP), a junior partner in the governing coalition. regarding the reasons for the resistance to land consolidation, Vlajčić stated that the reasons are numerous, with the main one being "the lost faith in the former system", when land was taken from them under the guise of consolidation.
Educating people about the benefits of land consolidation
"It is important to educate people about the benefits of land consolidation. The Ministry must take on this responsibility," Dragana Jeckov (Independent Democratic Serb Party) said, emphasising that only seven municipalities with 5,200 hectares have applied for the two public calls for consolidation, with a third open until the end of June.
Jelena Miloš (We Can!) pointed out that the goal of land consolidation should not be to prepare land solely for sale to foreign investors, but rather to use this process to help domestic agriculture become more competitive.
In response to the question from Mario Milinković (Social Democratic Party) about what will happen to land consolidation once funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan run out, the minister stressed that the state would, depending on interest, plan funding for consolidation every year.
Zvonimir Troskot (Bridge) used the discussion to criticise the announced construction of a poultry mega-farm in the Banovina region, which he claims is backed by "suspicious Ukrainian moguls" for whom State Secretary Tugomir Majdak works.
He said that they would not allow the destruction of Croatian poultry farming and agriculture, companies like Vindija, and that they would not allow the uncontrolled import of foreign labour that would drive down wages.
Majdak responded that all of Troskot's concerns could be clarified and pointed out that "a lot of contradictions have been presented in relation to existing laws".
Petir also highlighted that people in Banovina are concerned about the potential environmental impact of the farm on water, soil, air and the environment, and asked whether the Ministry had carried out an environmental impact assessment.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection is responsible for most of this, Majdak said, adding that "the projects are not in a mature stage of implementation".
