Protected designation of origin products can contribute both to consumers and producers, as well as to rural development. As high percentage of population in Republic of Serbia lives in rural areas, and agricultural sector is very important for the country, protected designation of origin products could bring many benefits for the country, rural population and rural development. The objective of the paper was to analyse potential of two Serbian products, with geographical indication, in the market in Republic of Serbia. Another objective was to understand who are consumers of these products and if they would pay for these products. These questions were explored in cases of two Serbian PDO products -Futog cabbage and Petrovac sausage, on the market in Serbia.

Typical and traditional products are becoming an important element of the agro-food panorama in Serbia. For keeping and, even, fostering this positive trend an effective strategy for the valorisation of these products is necessary. For that it is crucial to have a clear idea about the perception and attitude of consumers. The paper analyses the main factors that affect consumers' interest for purchasing Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) products in Serbia. A field survey -focusing on two PDOs namely Petrovac sausage and Futog cabbagewas performed in the period July-October 2012 with 251 Serbian consumers. The analysis showed that there are perspectives for PDO products in Serbia, as a large proportion of Serbian consumers are positively oriented towards products with designation of origin and would buy them. Interest for PDO products is connected and influenced by interest in typical products, awareness of PDO/Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) scheme, daily eating habits, education and income level. The main influence of these factors is identified for all sample, as well as for three different groups of consumers obtained by cluster analysis; "consumers with strong interest in PDO products" represents 28.7% of the sample, "consumers moderately interested in PDO products" stands at 41.8% of the sample while 29.5% of the interviewees belong to the third group "consumers poorly interested in PDO products". The fact that more than two thirds of respondents are either strongly or moderately interested in PDO products show that Petrovac sausage and Futog cabbage have good perspectives in the Serbian agro-food market.

Overuse of fertilizers can have harmful effects on the environment. The Nitrates Directive aims to protect water quality by preventing nitrates from agricultural sources polluting ground and surface waters and by promoting the use of good farming practices. The paper is based on research about agricultural producers’ awareness about the impact of fertilizers overuse on the environment. Data were collected by face to face interviews with farm owners on 39 farms in Serbia. Analysis of the collected data showed that all farmers use fertilizers. It is important to notice that 79.4% of farmers use chemical fertilizers more than recommended, and 87.1% use organic fertilizers more than recommended. Furthermore, 66.6% of farmers do not know specific harmful pollution effects of nitrates on soil and water. 71.7% of farmers have not heard about the Nitrates Directive. Therefore, it can be concluded that farmers are not sufficiently aware of fertilizers impact on the environment and it is necessary to provide education on this.

Sixty-five per cent of the Serbian land area is agricultural and 55% of the population is rural.Agriculture share of GDP is more than 10% and about 47% of the rural labour force deals with agriculture. The aim of this work is to analyse the impacts of the global financial and economic crisis on the Serbian agro-food sector and rural communities. Measures introduced, mainly by public institutions, for relieving the consequences of the crisis are presented and discussed. Easily accessible yet high quality data from the central Office of Statistics in Serbia and specialized literature have been used. Impacts have been assessed by analyzing and discussing the trends of many socio-economic indicators. The crisis has had general impacts on the Serbian economy (low GDP growth, unemployment increase, price volatility, purchasing power decrease, etc.). Due to the crisis growth in agricultural production has been very low (0.1% in 2009). Agro-food exports decreased dramatically in 2008. About 9000 agricultural jobs were lost in 2008 and 2009. Reduced exports and lower domestic demand impacted negatively on agricultural commodity prices and agricultural household incomes.Access to credit became more difficult especially for small producers. However, agriculture is still a very important safety net. Agricultural employment share has increased both for men and women. The importance of agriculture is even higher if we consider the “grey agricultural economy”. To mitigate the crisis effects, the Government provided subsidies to rural people and will adopt the National Strategic Plan and Programme for Rural Development. Nevertheless, public institutions - in partnership with private, civil society and international organisations - should improve rural producers’ access to market information and credits and foster investments in rural areas including non-agricultural ones and those aiming at improving physical capital.