Risk management on the winegrowing farms at Northwest Croatia

Cilj rada je istražiti kako vinogradarsko-vinarska gospodarstva na području Zagorja i Međimurja percipiraju izvore rizika i koje se strategije za upravljanje rizikom koriste. Anketno ispitivanje provedeno je na uzorku od 38 slučajno odabranih registriranih vinogradara u sjeverozapadnoj Hrvatskoj vinogradarskoj podregiji Zagorje - Međimurje. Vinogradari su relativno neskloni riziku, iako se u procesu poslovnog odlučivanja, najviše oslanjaju na vlastito iskustvo, savjete udruga vinogradara te preporuke i kritike kupaca. Najvažniji izvori rizika su zdravlje vlasnika gospodarstva i njegove obitelji, klimatski čimbenici te bolesti i štetnici vinove loze. Kao najvažnije strategije za upravljanje rizikom vinogradari navode korištenje vlastite imovine i zemljišta, intuiciju i osobnu procjenu te razne metode prodaje i plasmana. Osiguranje usjeva percipiraju kao relativno važnu strategiju. Glavni su razlozi korištenja osiguranja izrazita izloženost podregije klimatskim rizicima, ali i nedostupnost ostalih instrumenata za upravljanje rizikom. Pri ocjenjivanju obilježja osiguravajućih društava, vinogradari najviše ocjenjuju kvalitetu osoblja, a najniže visinu premije. U cilju poboljšanja kvalitete usluge osiguranja, bilo bi potrebno usmjeriti napore i aktivnosti u cilju unaprjeđivanja i razvijanja boljeg sustava poljoprivrednog osiguranja. To bi posljedično omogućilo obogaćivanje palete osigurljivih izvora rizika, ali bi i imalo utjecaja na smanjenje visine premije osiguranja. Kako bi postali konkurentni na domaćem i EU tržištu potrebno je osmisliti programe edukacije vinogradara iz područja upravljanja rizikom, a s ciljem učinkovitije proizvodnje i ulaganja!The main goal of this paper was to determine perceptions of risk and risk management strategies by winemakers. Primary research was based on the sample of 38 randomly selected winegrowers in the Croatian northwestern sub region of Zagorje – Međimurje. Winegrowers are relatively unwilling to take risks. In the process of making business decisions most of them rely on their own experience, advices and recommendations learned by attending winegrower association courses together with critics of their customers. Highly evaluated risk sources are health issues (human risks) and production risks (weather factors, as well as diseases and pests. As the most important risk management strategies in vineyard production, the winegrowers emphasized: ownership of land and objects, intuition and personal assessment and additionally the various methods of price risk management (marketing and sales policy). Crop insurance is perceived as a relatively important strategy. The main reasons why winegrowers use crop insurance are: regional exposure to extreme climate risks, as well as the unavailability of other management instruments for risk management. In order to improve the quality of insurance services it would be necessary to focus efforts and activities on promoting and developing a better system for agricultural insurance. That would consequently allow enrichment of insurance risk sources palette, but also could have effect on decrease of insurance premiums. Furthermore, in order to become competitive in both, domestic and EU market, there should be developed training programs in the area of risk management. That could have impact on reducing risk aversion in the business activities