HPK and HGK leaders point to a deep imbalance: exporting cheap raw materials while importing expensive finished goods. The key issue lies in area-based subsidies rather than yield and quality.
Croatian agriculture is going through yet another turbulent wheat harvest that has exposed chronic structural problems. Although more than a million tons were harvested this year, with some estimates reaching as high as 1.3 million tons, domestic needs are only between 300,000 and 350,000 tons. Despite the surplus, the country imports expensive finished grain products while exporting cheap raw materials, a situation that Željko Mihelić, head of the Croatian Agricultural Chamber (HPK), described as a "raw materials colony" position.
In a statement to Večernji list, Mihelić emphasized that responsibility cannot be endlessly shifted onto buyers, ministers, or the EU's Common Agricultural Policy. "We can't keep blaming others and forever pointing fingers at grain buyers, ministers, or the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Croatian grain production simply isn't profitable on the global market, nor can it be. Due to structural flaws, we export cheap raw materials and import expensive finished products, and today we've been reduced to the position of a raw materials colony," he said.
The key reason farmers persist in growing wheat and corn lies in the subsidy system. Subsidies are tied to acreage, not to actual yield and quality. This makes growing grains on 50 hectares more profitable and simpler than, say, growing vegetables on just two hectares, experts argue.
This year, wheat was planted on about ten percent more land than last year, yet the purchase price remained low. Vlado Čondić Galiničić, president of the Agriculture Association at the Croatian Chamber of Economy (HGK), detailed the worrying economic calculation. "When subsidies are factored into the purchase price, anyone with an average yield of around 6.5 tons per hectare is either breaking even or losing money. Costs, further burdened by rising fuel and labor prices, exceed 1,300 euros per hectare, meaning there's no profit below 8 tons per hectare," he told Večernji list.
These figures clearly show that for the vast majority of producers, wheat cultivation is at or below the break-even point, even with existing subsidies.
The paradox is evident: the country produces twice as much wheat as it needs, while simultaneously recording significant imports of bakery products and other grain derivatives. Mihelić's statement raises the question of a long-term strategy for Croatian agriculture, which will have to turn to more profitable crops and domestic processing if it wants to avoid the status of a raw materials base for more developed markets.
