Pilots Serbia

The country boasts favourable conditions for organic agriculture, with extensive arable land and relatively low levels of industrial pollution. However, the organic sector in Serbia faces challenges related to infrastructure, certification, and market development.

Organic production in Serbia is regulated by the Law on Organic Production, enacted in 2010, which aligns with previous European Union (EU) standards 834/2007 & 889/2008 and now in procedure new regulation, which will align with new EU regulation 848/2018. This revised law is expected to be published by the end of 2024. The law defines the requirements for organic production, labelling, certification, and control mechanisms. The Serbian Ministry of Agriculture is responsible for overseeing and regulating organic production in the country

The certification process is crucial for ensuring the integrity and quality of organic products. In Serbia, certification is carried out by accredited control bodies, which verify that producers comply with organic standards. These standards encompass various aspects of production, including soil management, crop rotation, pest and disease control, and the non-use of synthetic chemicals and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). There are 6 control bodies authorised by the Ministry of Agriculture for domestic law and 3 of them are authorised for EU organic certification by the European Commission.

There are two main types of organic producers in Serbia: those who contract directly with certification bodies and bear costs independently, and cooperating producers who hold certificates under group certification arrangements. The majority of organic production is export-oriented, with plant production being dominant.

Market development is another area of focus for the organic sector in Serbia. While domestic demand for organic products is increasing, there is also potential for export to EU countries and other international markets. However, to access these markets, Serbian organic producers must comply with strict EU regulations and undergo additional certification processes.

Overall, the organic production and control situation in Serbia is evolving, with efforts underway to overcome challenges and further develop the sector. Increased investment, improved infrastructure, and enhanced market access are key factors that will contribute to the continued growth of organic farming in the country.

Pilot in Serbia covers the whole country. In Vojvodina (Northern Serbia) focus is on tillage crops such as wheat, sunflower, soybean and corn and on the other side, in Central and Southern Serbia where climatic conditions are better for fruits such as raspberry, sour cherry, apple and plum. The project will follow organic wheat flour and organic sunflower oil from Univerexport who is the primary producer, processor, distributor and trader.

Organic control system (OCS) as the control body will follow Univerexport’s products from farm to fork, but also all other products from another organic producer, including apple juice. All these products (Figure below) are included in the project, because there is enough relevant data for organic, but also for non-organic products.

Examples of products considered in Serbia pilot

Serbia has developed a transparent efficient and reliable geospatial and real estate management system GeoSerbia through the Republic Geodetic Authority. The Republic Geodetic Authority leads Serbia’s digital transformation through modern geospatial innovations, enhancing state transparency. Utilizing advanced satellite imagery since 2015, it sets global standards for cadastral institutions with continuous innovation and reform. Drawing from their experience in Earth Observation (EO) through the previous Horizon project ENVISION [9], they’ve expedited data preparation, sidestepping the challenges encountered in prior project development.

The first one is EO based ecosystem services (Figure below) for the detection and distinction between organic and non-organic farming activities, verification of Ecological Focus Areas, and the use of multiannual crop rotation including mandatory leguminous crops as the main or cover crop for rotating crops and other green manure crops. OCS will, through the project, cross their data (farmer’s declarations and data from on-spot inspection) and geospatial data from GeoSerbia. Additionally, intra-field analysis will be conducted, biophysical parameters will be also extracted and analysed by ML models, in order to provide related recommendations to the farmers about the optimal use of organic fertilizers, the best selection of crop, and the estimation of yield.

All the mentioned information will be made available through the green accountability tool and dynamic digital product passport, the communication gap between CBs and farmers. Expectations and requirements for green accountability tool, such as: diverse types of data, the option to easily export data in Excel or Access format, the need to be easy to use, all data need to be in one place, the need to be user-friendly, need to be quick and easy for review, need to be in the real-time data, then privacy on the level of user (username and password), to have a notification about some irregularity, to be an option for online, but also for offline working, etc.

OCS as the organic control body, and Univerexport as wholesaler will be able to use THEROS portable MEMS-based photonics systems, and the respective mobile application for detection of falsified labels. For that purpose, the pilot will follow and test organic wheat flour from Univerexport and organic apple juice from another organic certified producer by OCS. Univerexport prepared and sent 5 kg of organic wheat flour for the first testing and analysis and for the second testing and analysis they sent 3 kg of organic wheat flour. OCS sent 60 and in addition 30 more bottles of organic apple juice, plus 60 bottles of non-organic apple juice from the market for a testing purpose. Both, organic and non-organic apple juice are produced in Serbia from apple concentrate.

Blockchain-based traceability system is following product organic sunflower oil, produced from Univerexport and certified by OCS. In the year 2024, about 38 tonnes of sunflower from 12.7 ha and produced quantity of almost 10.000 litres of organic sunflower oil is expected. Generally everything is digitalized and very easy to follow and include in a blockchain system. OCS will also include products, such as organic apple juice in blockchain system.

Finally, the information provided will be enhanced through the THEROS data harmonization platform and verification engine, aiming to: 1. Allow rapid verification of the product status and address potential claims; 2. Verify food asset origins, and 3. Validate the execution of transactions across.

THEROS components implemented in the Sebian pilot

Manufacturer: Agricultural farm Univerexport in Lipar

Soil cultivation is done with Univerexport doo’s own machinery.

The threshing service is performed by the supplier (outsourcing process). The link with the supplier will be the system of electronic invoices (SEF), which is a legal obligation in the Republic of Serbia and will be an integral part of the interface.

After threshing, the transport vehicles of Univerexport doo transfer the entire amount of organic sunflower to a dislocated warehouse. The production of organic sunflower oil is also in the same place.

Provider of logistics services: Univerexport doo

Transformation and packer: Bački Dukat Odžaci

The dislocated warehouse is located at the supplier Bački Dukat, which is in charge of storing and squeezing organic sunflowers and packaging organic sunflower oil. The squeezing will take place in several stages, and the product will be packed in 750 ml and 250 ml bottles, according to the needs of the Univerexport system. After pressing the sunflowers and packing the oil in the intended packaging, the entire quantity will be transported to the central warehouse, known as the DC (Distribution Center) of Univerexport doo.

Distributor: Univerexport doo

Upon receipt of the DC, the product is assigned an SSCC (Serial Shipping Container Code) code which helps with the tracking of the product movement from its reception to the retail facility. This means that there is a history of the movement of goods from the stage of reception and storage to moving and shipping, that is, it ensures the traceability of goods from DC to RF (Retail Facility). Based on the purchase orders that will be made by the RF to the DC, the delivery to the same will be prepared.

Transport from DC to RF is also carried out by a Univerexport vehicle. The delivery is accompanied by the document Intermediate storage document FROM, which was signed by the commission agent upon arrival at the store.

At the reception of the RF, the delivered goods are checked and if the balance of goods matches, a new document is created by the RF – Intermediate storage transport order document. With this document, the goods are placed on the store balance. The goods are displayed in a pre-defined place intended for organic products and the brand ORGANA, and by purchasing them, a fiscal invoice is issued, which ensures full traceability.

Regarding EO-Based Ecosystem Services, OCS collects data from farmers and sent to Synergise who validate campaigns for markers to ensure the accuracy of crop classification through market observations. OCS then provides on-spot inspections and validation of crop classifications, with the importance of verifying the information provided by farmers.

Manufacturer: Agricultural farm Univerexport in Lipar 

Soil cultivation is done with Univerexport doo's own machinery. 

Regarding EO-Based Ecosystem Services, OCS sent the data of Univer's plots with organic wheat to Synergise who validate campaigns for markers to ensure the accuracy of crop classification through market observations. OCS then provides on-spot inspections and validation of crop classifications, with the importance of verifying the information provided by farmers. 

The milling service is performed by milling company Spelta Jevtić, our outsourced supplier. The link with the supplier will be the system of electronic invoices (SEF), which is a legal obligation in the Republic of Serbia and will be an integral part of the interface. 

After threshing, the transport vehicles of Univerexport doo transfer the entire amount of organic wheat to a dislocated warehouse.  

Provider of logistics services: Univerexport doo 

Transformation and packer: Spelta Jevtić 

The dislocated warehouse is located at the supplier Zlatno zrno Šuljam, which is in charge of storing organic wheat. The milling takes place in several stages in Spelta Jevtić, Bačko Gradište and the product is packed in 1kg package. The quantity is determined according to the Univerexport system needs. After milling, the entire quantity is transported to the central warehouse, known as the DC (Distribution Center) of Univerexport doo. 

According to the flow chart the total amount of organic wheat from 2024. that is stored in the silo is 123.320,00 kg. 

Distributor: Univerexport doo 

Upon receipt of the DC, the product is assigned an SSCC (Serial Shipping Container Code) code which helps with the tracking of the product movement from its reception to the retail facility. This means that there is a history of the movement of goods from the stage of reception and storage to moving and shipping, that is, it ensures the traceability of goods from DC to RF (Retail Facility). Based on the purchase orders that will be made by the RF to the DC, the delivery to the same will be prepared.  

Transport from DC to RF is also carried out by a Univerexport vehicle. The delivery is accompanied by the document Intermediate storage document FROM, which was signed by the commission agent upon arrival at the store. 

At the reception at the RF, the delivered goods are checked and if the balance of goods matches, a new document is created by the RF – Intermediate storage transport order document. With this document, the goods are placed on the store balance. The goods are displayed in a pre-defined place intended for organic products and the brand ORGANA, and by purchasing them, a fiscal invoice is issued, which ensures full traceability. 

EO based ecosystem services 

Through the EO based ecosystem services component which utilizes satellite imagery and machine learning to monitor agricultural activities and compliance with organic farming practices, OCS control body included organic and non-organic plots in Serbia, with perennial and arable crops: Raspberries, blackberries, sour cherries, apple and plum, wheat, barley, sunflower, triticale, rye, spelt etc

The Key markers include homogeneity, greening, harvest, bare-soil, crop type, and organic/non-organic classification markers. These enable large-scale and efficient monitoring of farming parcels.

Within this component markers are showing insights about what is happening on the parcel by applying statistical and machine learning methods to satellite (or other aerial) imagery timeseries.

The first versions of the markers over pilot sites were delivered in early summer of 2024. Then proceed with the next iteration of the markers in 2025 to allow for targeted spot checks by the OCS Control body.

The EO-based ecosystem services module uses Sentinel Hub to efficiently retrieve Satellite Imagery and allow for retrieval of temporal statistics over parcels to generate signals that are used as input for the markers. In early 2025 the markers are run on super-resolved Sentinel-2 imagery in order to try and improve the performance over smaller parcels.

The plots of organic Wheat and Sunflower of Univerexport are also included in testing and observation process as a first step of traceability of the product.

Blockchain technology

Blockchain technology enhanced the traceability system that provides an immutable record of all supply chain events, from production to retail. This system ensures transparency and trust across the supply chain by securely tracking product life cycles, including production, transformation, and transportation.

Serbian participants are supplying their information through APIs and automated integrations with their ERPs. The integration of ERP system with Theros API is currently under testing. Data is retrieved from the SAP database and transferred through the THEROS API using a script. The plan is to send data at certain time intervals, which will be defined later on.

Until now, Serbian pilot manually recorded 3000 units of organic flour, 6500 units of organic cold press sunflower oil but also 150 samples/bottles of organic and non-organic apple juice (200ml) through the blockchain technology including events such as: production, transport, transformation and packaging events. Additionally, those units were verified through certification events by control body OCS.

In 2025, we are expecting more units of organic wheat flour to be recorded.

MEMS based photonics system

With a MEMS-based photonics system, a primary goal is to enable real-time detection of food adulteration, providing retailers with a fast and efficient way to identify compromised products. By integrating MEMS-based photonics systems with mobile applications, the project offers on-the-spot analysis capabilities that enhance transparency and trust in the supply chain.

Specifically, retailers using the MEMS-based photonics system will be able to scan food products (I.e. wheat flour and apple juice) in order to detect possible adulteration. A purity index would be displayed via THEROS mobile app which provides an estimate of the detectable adulterant if it exists. Otherwise, an indication marks the product as pure.

This activity was tested and verified with Organic wheat flower and apple juice samples.

dDPP – Dynamic Digital Product Passport

Dynamic digital product passport for organic/GI food assets tracks the product’s journey through the supply chain. It allows users to verify key tracking events, such as pick-up, transportation, and delivery, providing real-time information on the product’s status and compliance.

Univerexport and OCS have tested and verified organic wheat flour, organic sunflower oil and apple juice through dDPP tool. The first product in the retail shops of Univer with valid QR code is already in process of verification and will be recognized through dDPP while scanning it.

GAT – Green Accountability Tool

Green accountability tool aims at monitoring and visualizing the environmental performance of food production practices, ensuring sustainable practices are followed.

Through Serbian pilot and GAT the plots of the Organic wheat and Sunflower will be demonstrated trough EO, additionally the EO model is continuing to be developed with the lists of different corps Non-organic (Conventional) vs. Organic. Also, the products of wheat flour, sunflower oil and apple juice will be traceable through the blockchain and seen in dDPP, while the flour and juice were tested through MEMS tool.

Farmers: Farmers are primary stakeholders in agriculture, as they are directly involved in implementing farming practices. Their role includes adopting and adhering to organic farming standards, providing information about their practices, and participating in data collection efforts. This step is especially important for Earth Observation where Satellite should analyse with learning models the different management in non-organic (conventional) and organic practice.

Control Bodies: Control body plays a vital role in gathering and verifying data. Organic Control System will gather data and information about conventional and organic plots in a scope for Earth Observation learning protocols. Also, OCS will verify the data in Blockchain entered by producer (Univerexport)

Government Agencies: Government agencies are responsible for regulating and overseeing agricultural practices, including organic certification. They set policies, standards, and regulations for organic farming, provide support and incentives for organic farmers, and enforce compliance with organic regulations. Through this pilot, government agencies will be invited to support the data collection process for Earth Observation protocols.

Research Institutions: Research institutions contribute to the advancement of knowledge and understanding of organic farming practices. Their role involves conducting scientific research, providing technical assistance and training to farmers, and disseminating information about best practices and innovations in organic agriculture. They will participate in Learning History Workshop by testing the tools, afterwards their role will be to share and disseminate the experiences and knowledge among the farmers and other stakeholders. The support of the research institute is crucial in a scope to rise awareness about the tool’s importance in agricultural practice.

Consumer Organizations: Consumer organizations represent the interests of consumers and support for access to safe, healthy, and sustainably produced food. They play a role in raising awareness about the benefits of organic food, promoting consumer education, and supporting for policies that support organic farming. The representative of the consumer organizations will be part of the Learning History Workshop during the project lasting.

Environmental NGOs: Environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) focus on promoting environmental conservation and sustainability in agriculture. Their role includes supporting for environmentally friendly farming practices, monitoring the impact of agriculture on ecosystems, and raising awareness about the importance of organic farming for biodiversity and ecosystem health. The NGO will be invited to promote this pilot’s solution among their farmers members.

The drivers in Serbian pilot represents the way towards to digitalisation process. The paying agencies, within Ministries, had introduced the digital platform “e-Agrar” as a first step of the digitalisation process. From 2023, the farmers and Agribusiness are able to upload their plots, arable surface, non-organic (conventional) or organic crops data into the platform and to apply for subsidies. Within the THEROS tool, especially EO based ecosystems service, these monitoring process could be much effective and efficient and connect the departments within the Ministries itself. OCS will promote these tools among the government and paying agencies in a scope to improve this system with transparency and traceability.

Barriers: Beside the above mentioned, this process needs to be approved by many actors and request the timely and educational effort on all levels from up to down (Government to farmers). All actors must be aware of efficiency of the tools for improvements and be ready to implement them in the future practice.

To be updated