Some aspects of agricultural and rural development in Montenegro: Overview

Depopulation, deruralization and deagrarization have greatly contributed to the reduction of economic resources of the agricultural areas Montenegro, which has resulted in significant impact on rural areas. It is particularly important in less developed rural area of that changes have an important role in agricultural and rural development, since the possibilities for development are not used in the right way. Family agricultural holdings and business entities in „ 2010 have 221.297.6 ha of total utilized land. There is a rather low number of holdings whose size varies between 100 ha or more, only 425 of them or 0.87 % in comparison to the total available land. At family agricultural holdings, 23.198 working persons are 65 or older, which comprises 23.5 % of the total labor force, while the share of people under 24 years is declining, comprising 6.83 % rural areas in Montenegro “have significant development potentials owing to its geographical, climatic, and natural features. This is a necessary but not a sufficient condition. Integral development of rural areas Montenegro should be based on the following elements: multifunctional agriculture, diversification of economic activities in rural environment, rural and eco tourism, organic food production, small and medium - sized enterprises, and cooperation between small and medium producers. Conclusion the text confirms the hypothesis and suggests a need of many changes in the structure and organization of the agricultural and rural sector in Montenegro, as well as the necessity of establishing the legal, institutional and budgetary framework.