POSSIBILITIES FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT IN ORGANIC PRODUCTION OF VUKOVAR-SRIJEM COUNTY

Organic agriculture is a farming system which tends to be ethically acceptable, ecologically clean, socially fair and economically profitable agricultural production. Entrepreneuship is supposed to start production and business activities as well as create new products and added value. Entrepreneurship in agriculture is important for human nutrition, production of raw materials and its connections to services, and it is a generator of economy development. The aim of this research is to determine the conditions and development prospects of entrepreneurship in organic farming of Vukovar-Srijem County. During the paper preparation, scientific literature and appropriate internet sources were used along with statistical data from the official websites of the Ministry of Agriculture and Vukovar-Srijem County. According to the research results, organic agricultural production continuously and intensively grows in the Republic of Croatia. In 2015, 3061 farmers who produce organic food on 75,882 hectares were registered. When it comes to Vukovar-Srijem County, there are 63 farmers involved in organic farming on 1944 hectares of agricultural land, which represents 2.56% of the total area under organic farming in the Republic of Croatia. Entrepreneurs should increase their production in order to achieve better competitiveness on market and they should be more focused on the processing of organic products in order to achieve higher selling prices compared to primary agricultural products. CEPOR Vukovar is recognized for the promotion and advancement of entrepreneurship in organic farming in Vukovar-Srijem County, whereas perspectives in the development of organic farming have been associated with development projects funded by the EU.