SOIL MNAGEI'iSNT OBSERVATIOHS IM YUGOSLAVIA 



Relatively little commercial fertilizer is used on Yugoslavian farms,, for 

 at least two reasons. The average farmer has a smaller cash income and is therefore 

 less able to purchase such materials, and they are not so generally available as in 

 some other countries. However, this does not mean that soils are becoming depleted. 

 Practically all farms have livestock. Hence soil fertility is maintained by using 

 barnyard manure. Compost is also commonly used. Through the centuries farmers 

 have learned to conserve and use the materials at hand, whether vfillow twigs for 

 baskets, fences, etc., or the prunings from a vineyard for fuel. On one large farm 

 not far from a city, street sweepingswere being distributed in quantity as a means 

 of soil improvement. Labor is plentiful and inexpensive. But with so much hand 

 labor the production per worker is necessarily rather low while the production per 

 unit of area (hectare, or 2,1; acres) is, on the average^ quite satisfactory. 



At least 10% of the people are tillers of the soil and many of the farms 

 are not only small, but as in other parts of Europe, divided into several parcels. 

 Mechanization, under these conditions, is impractical. Only on the larger cooper- 

 ative and state farms does one see tractors and other kinds of farm machinery. 

 Even mowing machines, drawn by horses or oxen, are quite uncommon. The scythe, 

 the cradle and even the sickle are used. Also, a heavy hoe substitutes for a drag, 

 harraT, or cultivator on many farms. One of the very common sights in spring is the 

 many vfomen working in fields wit' hoe.'j, breaking up clods, a task which most 

 farmers would consider possible cnly with a harrow or other equipment. 



Rainfall in some areas is inadequate for best production. Open irrigation 

 ditches are of quite frequent occurrence and along some of the swiftly flowing 

 rivers, irrigation wheels have been constnicted. An ingenious arrangement of 

 "buckets" carries water to a trough near the upper side of the wheel, fromwhich 

 point it is conveyed to the field. There is a general fe^lief that some of the soils 

 are becoming dryer because of the cutting off of forests during periods of warfare 

 or occupation. In the very d ry season of 1952, crops were materially reduced. Com 

 in some areas was a near failure, j 



Before a vineyard or orchard is established, many of the horticultural 

 leaders favor deep tillage to break up the more or less impervious subsoil. Fields 

 of considerable extent are frequently dug to a depth of about ±wo feet by hand with 

 that idea in mind. The deeper soil is not brought to the surface but t he upper and 

 lower layers are turned separately. One field of about hO hectares was observed 

 where 500 men accomplished this enormous task by the shovelling method. Occasional- 

 ly, a special type of plow of Italian origin is used in preparing the soil for the 

 planting of grapevines. On one such project in Slovenia, a bulldozer was being used 

 for motive power, Vihether or not deep tillage is necessary on all soil types is 

 questionable. On podsol soils, hovfever, it is claimed that roots develop better if 

 the subsoil is broken up. 



Erosion is a serious problem in some parts of the country, particularly in 

 Macedonia, Gullying and sheet erosion have gone on for centuries, suggesting a 

 real need for improved farm practices and for reforestation. There is some interest 

 in strip farming and in contour planting of orchards. The writer helped to lay out 

 the first row of a new contour orchard, the first of its kind in Croatia, Mulching 

 is also being demonstrated. All of the UGOO fruit trees on one of the experiment 

 station farms were mulched for the first time last summer, liVith the gradual adop- 

 tion of a more complete spray program and the realization that vegetation of various 

 kinds will t end to increase fruit production, mulching mayreplace to some extent 

 the growing of other crops betvreen the trees. Most of the orchards are double- 

 cropped. Hay, vegetables, potatoes, etc ,| frequently interfere with a good g: ray 



