Arabs pour EUR 23 m - Al Rawafed starts irrigation system construction in Sivac, Gajdobra and Karadjordjevo

The construction of a 65-kilometer long irrigation system totaling EUR 23 m on 10,430 hectares in Sivac, Gajdobra and Karadjordjevo, cultivated by Al Rawafed from the United Arab Emirates, will begin as soon as they finish with this year's crops, wheat, soy, sunflower and corn, the Executive Manager of this Arab company in Serbia, Dragan Crnjanski, said.

As he explained, the project will cost about EUR 2,000-3,000 per hectare.

- It is planned that by the next crop, irrigation system covers from 60% to 70% of the area, i.e. between 6,000 and 7,000 hectares, which will be the largest area under watering system, not only in the province, but also in Serbia – Crnjanski added.

The irrigation pipes are already in Sivac field and Crnjanski says it will be composed and laid two meters deep into the ground.

- Pumping station will be built on Mali Stapar, and entire material that will be used in the irrigation project will be exclusively from the local companies - Dragan Crnjanski said, pointing out that the costs of the irrigation system will be expensive when the project is in operation, due to water, electricity, storage and system maintenance.

Arabian company, he says, actually irrigates land for reorienting production and switching to vegetable cultivation, but it will keep, he outlines, traditional agricultural crops on cultivated fields - wheat, corn, sunflower and soybeans.

- We'll grow both vegetables and seed maize. All renowned producers of corn seeds require firstly that the fields are under watering system, and then they want to cooperate with agricultural holdings – Crnjanski says and adds that the plan is to expand the market in the Middle East, where there is interest in our vegetables.

Al Ravafed, apart from Backa, is also engaged in agriculture in Namibia and Abu Dhabi.

Arabian company arrived to Sivac in 2014, and since 2015 it has begun cultivating land that belonged to former AD Backa and the Agricultural Cooperative of Jadran, which in the local population, and wider, caused controversy, dissatisfaction and unbelief because who owns land – owns the country as well. We would like to remind you that investors from the United Arab Emirates are present in the Serbian economic environment on the basis of three contracts. They have a purchase agreement for the purchase of about 2,600 hectares of the land in Backa in the vicinity of Sivac and Nova Gajdobra, with the Ministry of Agriculture on renting about 4,200 hectares for 30 years and a contract for business-technical cooperation with the Military Institution in Karadjordjevo, where they process about 3,500 hectares of plow land.

AL Rawafed Srbija d.o.o. Beograd

Dragan Crnjanski

navodnjavanje Sivac

navodnjavanje Gajdobra

navodnjavanje Karađorđevo

silo vreće

Sivac

Gajdobra

Karađorđevo

Mali Stupar

sistemi za navodnjavanje

izgradnja sistema za navodnjavanje

AD Bačka

Poljoprivredna zadruga Jadran