The study visit of UPIP Žepče was organized for the staff of Nešto Više and partner organizations – Center for Development and Support (CRP) Tuzla, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Džemal Bijedić Mostar and Faculty of Agriculture and Food Technology, University of Mostar to learn about examples of good practice and research . 6 people participated in the study visit.
An extremely important segment is the Association’s engagement through monitoring market trends, ie. identifying supply and demand and finding the best and most profitable ways of product placement for all users of the network of sub-sectors of medicinal and aromatic plants of BiH, which has about 2000 members (supported by the EU through the Agromap network project).
Also interesting is the work of the agronomic advisory service of the Association, which provides support services in finding solutions to all possible problems of agricultural producers, either at the place of production, or by organizing various trainings. The service covers 4 municipalities and so far has over 100 users. The association is currently working on the implementation of a cross-border project where in the Sisak-Moslavina County, Republic of Croatia, a network is organized on the model of the existing network in BiH, with similar plans and goals.
After getting acquainted with the work of the Association, the participants visited the distillery where the essential oil of lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is distilled on a distiller, which the employees of the Association constructed by improving the existing technology, thus ensuring 40% higher raw material utilization. All quantities of lemon balm oil produced are exported to the United States. The process of organic certification of land, plantations and processing was also discussed, which ensured that the produced essential oil of lemon balm has an organic certificate, and thus significantly increased the selling price.
The participants visited the pedological laboratory, a refrigerator with a capacity of 300 m3 and other accompanying facilities located within the Agro-incubator UPIP Žepče.
The visit resulted in an interest in further cooperation, primarily in the exchange of technical, practical and scientific information, as well as networking with the aim of more successfully overcoming common problems.
