Livestock Farming in Rural Areas

Serbia has favorable natural conditions for the development of livestock despite the third decade of recording negative trends. Autochthonous breeds are closely connected to geographical and cultural diversity in Serbian rural areas. Unfortunately, number of autochthonous breeds significantly decreased during the last 5 - 6 decades. This is the potential threat for further decrease in production and loss of agro-biodiversity in Serbia. There are 400 - 500 companies in Serbia which are involved in the breeding of rare, autochthonous, domestic animal breeds. According to the 2012 Agricultural Census, total number of cattle in the Republic of Serbia on the family farms had a share of 91.7%. In the last ten years, poultry and pig production is 20% of total number of pigs and 37% of poultry is grown on the farms of legal entities. The paper aims to point out the need for defining measures that should be adopted in the near future (special programs and developing legal, administrative and technical instruments) for preservation and support of the animal resources of Serbia