Croatia - Agriculture

Agriculture, fishing, and forestry accounted for about 10 percent of the total GDP of Croatia in 1999, but they are nevertheless important to the overall economy. According to the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, these sectors combined to employ over 33,000 people and produce earnings of approximately US$1.4 billion per year. Croatia is fortunate not to have experienced the environmental damage from mass industrial development that characterizes its Eastern European counterparts. Environmental concerns do exist, but they do not have a heavy impact on agriculture, forestry, and fishing.

Croatia's geographical diversity led to different patterns of livelihood and culture. As a result, agriculture varies throughout the country's regions, influenced by regional climate. Agriculturally rich lowlands located in Croatia's northern part are dominated by the cultivation of wheat, corn and sunflower crops, while viti-culture (the cultivation of grapes), fruit-growing, and olive-farming are popular in the coastal region, with pasture land common in the mountainous areas. Most agricultural land is privately owned, and the large cooperatives created during the communist era are being privatized and restructured. Croatian agricultural production is dominated by small farms. The EIU Country Profile for 2000 states that in 1991 almost 70 percent of farms were 3 hectares or less, with only 5.6 percent larger than 8 hectares.

The war had a devastating effect on Croatian agriculture, changing the country from an exporter of agricultural products to a net importer. After the war, government efforts to boost agricultural production created positive results, increasing production of wheat, improving agricultural machinery, and increasing the number of cattle. In 1999, combined earnings from agriculture, hunting, and forestry equaled US$1.39 billion. Aside from wheat, fruits, olives, and grapes, the agricultural sector also produces corn, sugar beets, seed, alfalfa, clover, livestock. and dairy products.