OPG Gvozdić Marijan is a small family farm from Soljan which is has been engaged in agriculture since 1997. On a total of 40 hectares of open arable land we grow several crops: wheat, oilseed rape, sunflower, soybean and watermelon. Although we are mainly engaged in the production of cereals and watermelons, we grow only a tenth of the total the surface we cultivate, in the end, we invest the most effort and manual work in watermelon production. Soljan watermelons have already become a brand and are in demand throughout Croatia and beyond, and the watermelons of our family stand out with their quality, sweetness, freshness and distinct with the attention we give them from the moment they are just seeds to the moment they leave to the end customer. We produce a variety of watermelon “Farao” which is oval in shape, with a thin rind and green stripes. This variety is very sweet (more than 12 Brix) and has dark red flesh. OPG Gvozdić Marijan has no employees, but the whole family works on the farm, and in the summer during the watermelon harvest season, friends and neighbours engaged in similar businesses are included. In order to improve our production, we strive to follow the latest knowledge about protection herbs. For this purpose, the family farm Gvozdić Marijan has plant protection equipment, a tractor, equipment for basic and additional tillage and agricultural machinery. Use of new machinery and equipment aims to prevent soil erosion, increase efficiency in water and energy use in agriculture and reducing greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions, thus contributing conservation of soil, air, resources and the environment in general, which ultimately leads to sustainability agricultural production. The fact that he is the youngest member also contributes to the sustainability of the family farm household student of the Faculty of Agriculture in Osijek, Department of Plant Breeding and will upon completion study to continue the family business using the knowledge and skills acquired in the study, but also competencies and experiences gained daily from an early age through fieldwork with parents. In the coming period, our plan is to compete in the tenders of the European Agricultural Fund and the tenders of the Ministry of Agriculture in order to further modernize and improve our work and production. OPG Gvozdić Marijan strives to cooperate with other farmers and purchasers agricultural products and is a member of the Association of Fruit and Vegetable Growers “Fruit” of the Municipality of Vrbanja and Cluster watermelon producer of Vukovar-Srijem County. Both organizations aim to increase the competitiveness of small producers in the market through networking and exchange of knowledge and experience.
OPG Gvozdić Marijan strives to cooperate with other farmers and purchasers agricultural products and is a member of the Association of Fruit and Vegetable Growers “Fruit” of the Municipality of Vrbanja and Cluster watermelon producer of Vukovar-Srijem County. Both organizations aim to increase competitiveness of small producers in the market through networking and exchange of knowledge and experience. The mission of the family farm Gvozdić Marijan is a daily fresh and quality Slavonian product on the tables consumers in Croatia and abroad arrive in a short time while maintaining its freshness and quality while ensuring market competitiveness through restructuring, modernization and new technologies according to market and customer requirements. The vision of the family farm is a society in which honest and hard work of farmers and quality is valued a domestic product which enables the prosperity of agriculture in Croatia, but also retention people in rural areas and the primary sector of economic activity.
