Ensuring the improvement of agricultural competitiveness through the human resource development

Human resources are one of the driving forces and main determinants of agricultural competitiveness, contributing to its improvement through properly formed and constantly renewed knowledge and skill enhancement of agricultural workers. In the context of scarce natural resources, demographic changes, need for more intensive agricultural production based on modern technology, human resource development in agriculture becomes imperative. The aim of the research is to assess the human resources in agriculture of Serbia through the prism of data available in the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia and World Bank. The research results show fluctuations in the rural population and employees in agriculture in the analysed period, confirming their negative trend and predicting further decrease based on the forecast method. In order to overcome limitations related to the number and qualifications of agricultural employees, the special focus has been given to the formal and informal education of workers in agriculture, ensuring their capability to respond to market needs and future challenges.