POSSIBILITIES FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOYBEAN PRODUCTION IN SERBIA

Current trends in human nutrition and growing needs of livestock production, especially pig and poultry production, drive a demand for the soybean both on a global scale and in Serbia too. It is, therefore, necessary to examine the possibilities of improving this crop production at the national level. This paper analyses the yield of soybeans in Serbia in the period 1949-2012, as the main indicator of the production results. The main aim of the paper is to examine the level and stability of the soybean yields in the observed period, in order to show some possibilities for further improvement of the production of this crop. The conducted analysis has showed that an average soybean yield achieved in Serbia in the period 1949-2012 was 1,730 kg/ha; an average annual growth rate was 1.82 %, while the yield varied from 366 kg/ha (yield achieved in 1950) to 3,177 kg/ha (achieved in 2010). On the short term basis, the situation was somewhat better, i.e., in the last decade (2003-2012) the average yield was 2,448 kg/ha. This can be assessed as relatively satisfactory, when the national average yield is compared with the world, European and neighbouring countries averages, respectively. However, the demonstrated variability in the achieved yields and the fact that there are countries with higher average yields indicate that there is room for the further growth of this production. To exploit these possibilities, it is crucial that decision makers (managers) know well the specific conditions (both natural and socio-economic) in which the production takes place. Only if they constantly monitor the production process (on site), the limiting factors of yield growth can be recognized on time and the optimal management decisions for specific production conditions can be made. Thus, it can be concluded that high yields of the soybean require an optimal combination of agro-ecological conditions and adequate management decisions (for the specific conditions of production).