Konferencija Agronomskog fakulteta
Episode · #389
POSLOVNI FM PREDSTAVLJA Konferencija Agronomskog fakulteta
Guest Konferencija Agronomskog fakultetaHosted by Boris ŽivkovićMay 3, 2026
Konferencija Agronomskog fakulteta
About this episode
What you'll hear in this conversation
The world is changing rapidly, driven by technology and evolving human habits, notes host Boris Živković. This transformation extends even to tobacco, a plant traditionally known for cigarettes. A recent conference hosted by the Agronomski fakultet, titled 'Tobacco and Tobacco Products: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow,' brought together experts to discuss the future of the industry, focusing on harm reduction and alternative crops. It's a look at how an established industry is forced to reinvent itself from the ground up, facing both public health debates and new agricultural possibilities.
Insights from the conversation
What to take from this episode
01
Dr. Dijana Majer, an epidemiologist, notes that e-cigarettes have been on the market for over a decade, sparking a public health debate between advocates who see them as an aid to quitting smoking and critics who view them as a threat. Technologies that disrupt established health models rarely arrive with clear consensus; they force a re-evaluation of what "public health" even means.
02
The British Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is actively encouraging companies to apply for e-cigarette licensing as a medicinal product to help smokers quit. When regulators reclassify a product, they aren't just changing its status; they're changing public perception and medical acceptance, often ahead of universal scientific consensus.
03
Dr. Majer highlights that the most toxic components of tobacco smoke — tar and carbon monoxide — are completely absent from e-cigarette vapor. When a product eliminates the most harmful elements of an established category, it forces a re-evaluation of what "safer" means, even if long-term effects are still being studied.
04
Christos Stamatis, of Stevia Hellas Coop, explains that stevia cultivation requires the exact same mechanical equipment as tobacco farming. Crop transition programs succeed not by introducing entirely new systems, but by finding alternatives that let farmers reuse their existing machinery and knowledge.
05
Stevia offers three times the yield per hectare compared to tobacco and, if organic, a significantly better producer price, resulting in over 50% higher annual profit for farmers. For agricultural transitions to work, the economic case must be compelling enough to overcome tradition; farmers will switch when the new crop clearly means more income.
06
The stevia market is growing at a 10-12% compound annual growth rate, driven by consumer preferences for natural sweeteners and sugar taxes imposed in over 50 countries. Market shifts are rarely organic; they are often catalyzed by a combination of changing consumer behavior and regulatory pressure, creating new opportunities for alternatives.
07
Stevia cultivation requires less land, uses only organic fertilizers, and significantly reduces water consumption. Sustainable agriculture isn't just an environmental choice; it can be an economic one, too, by lowering input costs and aligning with consumer demand for naturally grown products.