
Instead of "tetovec", beans from Madagascar are simmering in Macedonian pots
Beans that travel about 7.300 kilometers from the African island of Madagascar to Macedonia can also be found in domestic markets at a price of 115 denars per kilogram, which is three times cheaper than the price of the domestic, indigenous "tetovec" beans. The total production of Macedonian beans in 2023 has decreased by 15 percent compared to 2022.
Beans that travel about 7.300 kilometers from the African island of Madagascar to Macedonia can also be found in domestic markets at a price of 115 denars per kilogram, which is three times cheaper than the price of the domestic, indigenous "Tetovec" bean. Citizens are confused by the fact that for years we have been importing fruits and vegetables that we can grow in every yard and at every step, from the most distant countries, and believe it or not, with all the customs duties and transportation costs - cheaper than domestic ones.
Importers briefed on Free Press that they have good math, because the country produces almost nothing, and the high yields there and low production costs provide them with solid earnings. From them, it can be learned that they have not been purchasing from the popular "Kyrgyzstan" for a year now, due to uncertain contracts with local producers. Instead, the domestic baked beans are now largely made from beans that we import from Egypt, Turkey and Turkmenistan, which was confirmed to us by Customs.
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– In Macedonia, dried beans are mostly imported from Egypt, Turkey and the Kyrgyz Republic. In 2024, 5.131.480 kilograms of dried beans were imported, while in 2023, 4.334.905 kilograms of dried beans were imported – the Customs Administration informed our newspaper.
The data from the agricultural market portal also reveals that residents of Tetovo, the city that was once considered the largest producer of beans in Macedonia, pay the most for this vegetable. Namely, last July, one kilogram of beans in Tetovo cost a record 282 denars, while the lowest price of 142 denars was paid by residents of Strumica!
According to experts, the production of domestic bean varieties is declining for several reasons: insufficient use of certified seeds, insufficient irrigation of the areas under this crop, but also due to problems with diseases and climate change. Domestic producers are losing interest in bean production due to high input costs and low yields, they state, noting that there is potential for restoring production, but with the appropriate application of cultivation techniques, new technologies and education of producers. This unique plant arrived in Europe together with potatoes and corn from South America, back in the 16th century, and in the Balkans a century later, from Italy.
– Our agricultural products are more expensive because production is expensive and because it is mostly handled by small producers who cannot compete with the prices offered by large producers in countries where production is initially cheaper – says a farmer from the Tetovo region.
That's why we have tomatoes from Turkey, Greece and Albania on our plates, potatoes from the Netherlands, garlic from China... Serbian agroeconomist Milan Prostran previously explained to "Blic" that domestic beans in these regions have practically died out due to the fact that after the collapse of the former Yugoslavia, there were no large consumers, including the kitchens of the former Yugoslav People's Army, so domestic dishes are prepared from beans from Asia.
According to the annual report of the Ministry of Agriculture for 2023, the total production of beans as an intercrop (5.054 tons) has decreased by 15 percent compared to 2022 (5.913 tons. Incidentally, last year 7.196 hectares sown with beans were harvested, and a total of 5.933 tons of beans were obtained, or 70,2 kilograms per hectare. Statistics show that in 2023 each Macedonian household bought and cooked only 15,8 kilograms of beans.
A collection of Macedonian beans is kept in the gene bank in Cali, Colombia.
Professor Sonja Ivanovska, from the Department of Genetics and Selection at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Food, pointed out in a previous interview for "Sloboden Pechat" that among the oldest and most indigenous varieties are certainly those various bean varieties that are depicted in the book "Macedonian Priceless Treasure".
– Of these, only the Tetovo bean is sown on large areas, in the yards, only a few white-seeded and two or three types of variegated beans are sown. All other types are threatened with extinction and are rarely found. Otherwise, the international gene bank based in Cali holds the largest collection of beans in the world, including Macedonian beans – Ivanovska pointed out.