“A Market is Secured for This Crop Because It is Proven to Be the Highest Quality in the World”
The family farm “Darijo Sajko” from Čađavica cultivates 200 hectares of agricultural land, of which 75 hectares are state-owned land leased for 25 years, while the rest belongs to Sajko. On 25 hectares, he has a hazelnut orchard, while the remaining land is used for crop production, mainly wheat, barley, and corn. The farm also provides various services and employs five workers. The young farm owner is married and has three children with his wife Martina. Five-year-old Jan is already captivated by tractors and other machinery, his daughter Mia is four years old, and six months ago, the family welcomed their son Liam.
Darijo Sajko signed a contract with the Agency for Payments in Agriculture, Fisheries, and Rural Development for the implementation of the project titled “Investment in a Facility for Energy Production from Renewable Sources with a Thermogeneration System and a Photovoltaic Power Plant,” with a total value of 1.4 million euros. This project has been on his mind for several years, specifically the reconstruction and renovation of a building from the former PIK, which Sajko purchased seven years ago. Upon completion of the project, this building will become part of a thermogeneration system complex for drying medicinal herbs, equipped with a solar photovoltaic system for electricity production. The support intensity is 70%, which means that Sajko will receive funding amounting to 976,161.47 euros.
“Years of farming have shown that producing only crops like wheat and corn is not profitable, so I thought it would be better to grow chamomile. There is a market for this crop, and ecologically produced chamomile in Croatia is the highest quality in the world. One of the largest costs in this production is the energy for drying, so I thought about how to reduce or eliminate these costs. I came up with the idea of a thermogeneration plant, which currently does not exist in Virovitica-Podravina County, or even beyond. Two pellet boilers of two megawatts each will heat 30,000 liters of water to 80 degrees Celsius. This water will be transported through pipes (similar to radiators) to 12 dryers, where fans will blow hot air to dry the medicinal herbs. The project also includes the production of pellets from all types of harvest residues and a photovoltaic power plant, creating a closed production cycle,” the young farmer explained his project.
Currently, the Sajko family farm does not produce chamomile, but once the signed project is implemented, chamomile will be grown on approximately 150 hectares. After harvesting the chamomile, Sajko plans to plant soy or sunflowers as a second crop to maintain crop rotation and increase the amount of plant residues for pellet production.
Based on preliminary discussions, the company Martin Bauer Croatia d.o.o. from Osijek will purchase the chamomile under a long-term contract.
“My two brothers and I have been farming since we were children, a passion we inherited from our grandfather. All three of us have our own family farms, and we help each other, but everyone leads their own life and decides what to do. The start and the initial push came from the 50,000 euros support for young farmers through Measure 6.1. After that, we used various other measures. There were problems with the land, and this latest project also awaited the completion of the tender for leasing state-owned land because it wasn’t profitable with the area I had earlier. Obtaining the land through this tender was the trigger for this major investment. I am grateful to the mayor of Čađavica, Mirko Rončević, for insisting on the observance of tender conditions despite the unreasonable complaints of some farmers, so the distribution of state land was carried out transparently and fairly. We are very satisfied with the local authorities’ attitude towards us, as they help us solve any problem within their competencies. If it were like this at higher levels, everything in the country would certainly be better.”
Sajko believes that farming is profitable, but the results should be evaluated over five years.
“This year, we suffered significant losses. The water took away about 60% of our wheat, and what remained was of lower quality and yield. We also suffered significant losses in barley, and a few days ago, we experienced a hailstorm. We didn’t insure the corn due to previous bad experiences with insurance; payouts are hard to obtain, everything ends up in court, and legal processes in our country take a long time. We don’t have the time or the will for all that. But when we look at the five-year average, we can be satisfied.”
mf (Petar Žarković, Glas Slavonije/Photo: Petar Žarković, Darijo Sajko, Family Album)
