The total surface of Kosovo is 10.877 km square with 2 major plain areas: Kosovo plain and the Dukagjin plain .The climate is characterizes as continental with some Mediterranean influence in the lower areas

Of the total area, 53% (585.000 ha) is agricultural land , 41% (455.000 ha) is forest and forestry land whereas  6 % for the others .(MAFRD resource ,water and drainage sector)

88% of the farmland is privately owned while the rest is on the property of Socially owned companies. The arable land is considered of good quality and the temperate climate make agriculture a possibly strong economically sector that should at some point be able to assure adequate food supply for the population and even enable the export of some food stuff.

4 major challenges are currently being faced by the agricultural sector in Kosovo:

·    Loss of farm land: each year some 1000 ha are being de facto transformed into built area (some estimation, puts this number much higher)

·    Parcel fragmentation; the amount of land available by farming Household is low (0.5 –2 ha on average)

·    Industrial pollution; agricultural land are under a constant threat from polluters large and small -mainly through soil and water pollution

·    Landfills: a number of controlled and uncontrolled land fills in Kosovo are situated in around near farming areas

It does seem that a comprehensive study of the effect of pesticide and fertilizer has been made in Kosovo. Nonetheless the use of fertilizers in Kosovo is limited as compared to other European states. This is due to by the high price of fertilizers and the lack of government subsidies. In 2001, 80.400 tones chemical fertilizers (around 2 mil.€  worth) and 712.258 tones organically fertilizers ( 1.5 mil.€ worth) were used (Source: MAFRD –Monitoring sector ,Fertilize and pesticide use  2001)