GEOTHERMAL ENERGY FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE: A CASE STUDY SARAJEVO, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Abstract

Bosnia and Herzegovina is strategically committed to agriculture. Although it has adequate natural resources to engage in modern agriculture, it is also an area that faces a number of problems, such as small landholdings, low technological level of production, abandonment of rural areas, low yields, high exposure and poor adaptability to climate change. Given these conditions, the main goal of this paper was to determine the possibility for the stallholder farmer in Bosnia and Herzegovina to increase its sustainability using geothermal heating system to heat the greenhouse during the winter and achieve safer production with higher yields. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) was chosen as the test crop. By heating, a higher air temperature was achieved in the greenhouse (2.20-3.82 °C), a higher growth intensity was also achieved, as well as much shorter lettuce vegetation, which was only 67 days. However, the economic aspects of sustainability have not been realized, these higher yields are not enough to cover costs. Fixed cost value, was covered with gross margin five times (502%) in the control greenhouse, while achieved gross margin is not sufficient to cover fixed costs in the heated greenhouse, shown by the calculated value of 60%.