Zrenjanin, September 2013 – The City of Zrenjanin and the Municipalities of Kikinda and Novi Becej today launched a program to help unemployed youth grow highly profitable vegetable crops.  The "Agriculture Entrepreneurship Incubators for Youth" project will teach participants to grow vegetables in greenhouses and in open fields. 

State Secretary Nenad Borovcanin, Zrenjanin Mayor Ivan Bosnjak, Kikinda Mayor Savo Dobranic and Novi Becej Sasa Sucurovic, as well as USAID Sustainable Local Development Project Director Howard Okman, attended the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in Zrenjanin to launch this activity.

The entrepreneurship program is designed to reduce the time and cost of establishing new agricultural businesses.  It is open to youth who own land and equipment but lack training, as well as young people who need education, land and equipment.  To qualify, applicants must have a high-school education, be under the age of 35, unemployed and wish  to grow vegetables in the inter-municipal partnership of Zrenjanin, Kikinda and Novi Becej.

The activity's 150 participants will take five days of training to learn how to develop a business plan, establish an agribusiness, secure funding, benefit from producer associations and business connections, and grow high-quality vegetables using modern techniques.

Following training, participants will be eligible to take part in the second part of the Program, where selected participants will have access to land, infrastructure and greenhouses for one to two years, depending on the type of vegetables being grown.  Vegetable production in greenhouses is scheduled to begin in March 2014. Participants will be supported by agriculture experts during their initial development, or incubation, phase.

Application forms for the Agriculture Entrepreneurship Incubators for Youth program can be downloaded from the Internet sites of the City of Zrenjanin and the Municipalities of Kikinda and Novi Becej (www.zrenjanin.rs, www.kikinda.org.rs, www.novibecej.rs). Applications must be submitted by October 2, 2013.

This program is implemented by the City of Zrenjanin and the Municipalities of Kikinda and Novi Becej with support from the Ministry of Youth and Sport and the USAID Sustainable Local Development Project.