Increased demand for food production, influenced by the constant growth of population, resulted in the agricultural production systems that are more energy and economy intensive. The aim of this study was to evaluate the energetic and economic efficiency of sugar beet and wheat production. Attention was given to the fertilizer usage and its share in energy consumption since it can amount to 50%. Data show that energy input in wheat production was 5.84 MJ·kg⁻¹ and in sugar beet it was 0.93 MJ·kg⁻¹. The highest share of energy input both in wheat and sugar beet was observed for fertilizers, 52.45% and 46.70%, respectively. Economic analysis has shown that wheat production is a low profitable production with a net return of only 20.69 USD·ha⁻¹, in comparison with sugar beet production with a net return of 513.53 USD·ha⁻¹. Costs related to the fertilizer use prevailed in total variable and total production costs. Economic analysis has also shown that the benefit-to-cost ratio was higher in sugar beet production (1.33) compared to wheat production (1.03). Furthermore, it was determined that these economic indicators were less sensitive in sugar beet production than in wheat production regarding the variation of fertilizer.

Crop production is largely unprotected and exposed to a great number of production factors. On the other hand, farmers are exposed to fluctuations in the market prices of their products every year, which often has a negative impact on the profits made. There are various risk management measures in plant production, and insurance is certainly one of the most effective instruments. One of the recent insurance models is Whole-Farm Revenue Insurance (WFRP), which is an American insurance model that has been applied since 2015. The essence of WFRP is to ensure that all crops on the farm are secured against production and market risks with only one policy. The aim of the research in this paper is to present WFRP as an entirely new model of revenue insurance on the example of a typical Serbian farm specializing in crop production. The WFRP model works by determining the insured revenue before the start of the production year. If at the end of the production year, for any reason, the realized revenue falls below the level of insured revenue, the farmer is entitled to indemnification. Due to the drought that hit the region where the analyzed farm is located, the yields were reduced, and thus the expected revenue was also reduced, and the farmer was entitled to damages of $5697. On the other hand, it is the farmer’s obligation to pay $373 to the insurer as a risk transfer fee. The authors proved that even such complex insurance models can be applied in countries such as Serbia, where awareness of the importance of insurance of agricultural production is still not developed.

Investments are precondition for profitable, efficient and sustainable agricultural production. As a consequence of market liberalization Serbian farmers are competing with EU and neighbouring farmers, therefore it is important to compare investments in Serbian farms with investments in farms in neighbouring countries which have already became EU members (Croatia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria). The goal of this research was to analyse investments in the most important farm types in Serbia (mixed type of farms and farms specialized in crop production) and to compare it with appropriate investments in above mentioned countries. To achieve this goal authors used FADN methodology and relevant EU and Serbian databases and publications. The research results revealed that investments in Serbian farms are similar or even higher comparing to investments in observed countries, although level of investment's subsidies in Serbia is modest. Net investments are especially high for mixed Serbian farms, allowing development of even less present livestock production types. Future research should be directed towards evidence and comparison of subsidies on investments according to FADN methodology in Serbia and EU countries.

In the case of some agricultural investments, often net cash flow changes its sign from positive to negative, many times during the project. It causes the problem of internal rate of return calculation, which is an important indicator of economic effectiveness of investments. That is, in such situations, internal rate of return cannot be used. To solve this problem, modified rate of return is applied. This paper aimed to describe this method in detail, and to show its calculation for investments in pigs fattening. By application of modified internal rate of return it is determined that pigs fattening, under assumed conditions, is economically justified. Also, authors calculated the upper limit of discount rate (cost of capital), to which investment in pigs fattening is economically justified. It is concluded that, in the case of specific agricultural investments (such as pigs fattening), the use of traditional internal rate of return could give the wrong image on actual rate of return on investments.

Tsigai is an indigenous sheep breed present in entire Central and South-East Europe. Due to its low meat and milk production number of Tsigai sheep is in a sharp decline. But, there is a strong need to preserve valuable genetic resources of this breed. Therefore, the goal of this research is to evaluate economic performance of Tsigai breeding and to define strategies for its future use. In the paper profitability of Tsigai breeding is determined as well as economic efficiency of investments in Tsigai farms (using Net Present Value and Internal Rate of Return). To perform the analysis in risky circumstances authors applied sensitivity and decision tree approach. The results indicated that breeding of Tsigai sheep requires state subsidies to be profitable and economically efficient. Decision tree approach resulted in calculation of expected NPV. Investments in Tsigai farms proved to be economically efficient, but associated with high level of risk.

Productivity is one of the basic economic principles needed for successful farm operations. The goal of this research is to analyze productivity of Serbian milk producers involved in FADN sample. Therefore, the research has been based on publically available FADN data and FADN methodology. Applying number of indicators authors discussed close relation between farm size and productivity. Besides, relation between productivity and economic efficiency of Serbian farms specialized in milk production is presented. The results indicated number of cows necessary to improve productivity of Serbian farms oriented towards milk production.