Commercialization of non-wood forest products on the territory of AP Vojvodina

Abstract

In the previous utilization of natural resources in forestry as an economic activity, timber exploitation was always the dominant part, and the utilization of other forest products was partly neglected. Nowadays, non-wood forest products (NWFPs) occupy an increasingly significant position in the forestry sector in numerous countries, so that the revenue from their utilization approaches the returns realized by the classical production of timber products. The research performed in Vojvodina, on the sample of six enterprises dealing with NWFP purchase, processing and sale was aimed at the analysis of their market activities to create the image of the market of this group of products. After the study data were analyzed by dynamic statistical methods, the changes in the activities on purchase, the domestic sales and export sales between 2004 and 2010 were presented and future projects were visualized. The research in the form of questionnaire included the quantities of purchased raw materials, the scope of production and sales, both in the domestic, and in foreign markets, as well as the prices of final products. Some species of medicinal plants were purchased on the territories of Croatia and Macedonia, and the purchasing network in the domestic market was remarkably wide and it included predominantly: Nis, Svrljig, Coka, Apatin, Pancevo, Ruma, Boljevac, Kanjiza, etc. The most significant growth was realised in the purchase of a mixture of medicinal plants. Also significant are the purchased quantities of mint, which on average increased by 7.9 t and rose hip by 5.5 t per year. During the study period, the domestic sale of all species of herbal teas and medicinal plants increased significantly, while spices and honey were subject to a fluctuation in sales quantity. Average algebraic deviation of the original final NWFP sale value from the arithmetic mean accounts for 3.48%. With the significance level of 95%, it is estimated that the sale in 2012 will range between 3049.19 and 3343.95 t, under the condition that the sale continues its quadratic trend. Based on the quadratic trend, and with the significance level of 95%, it can be foreseen that the value of export in 2012 will range from 133.01 to 250.07 t. As for the time interval from 2004 to 2010, the average export amounted to 260.07 t, which encompassed primarily medicinal and aromatic plants, spices and honey. During the study period, export decreased on average by 7.03% (20.75 t per year).