Raspberries as a crop (family tree) – less recommended as a business

01.07.2026

Raspberries as a family crop

When calculating the production cost per hectare, it turns out that raspberries are a family crop, which means that all the necessary labor force is provided within the family. Therefore, each family must count on their own family power and treat it as either additional work or even a primary family activity. The family should be assigned an area that it manages with its own labor power. The workforce accounts for over 62% of the costs of raspberry production.

It is particularly important that we are dealing with additional work where categories of families who otherwise do not generate income (pupils, students, pensioners, elderly people, people in poor health, and others) may be engaged.

Cultivating raspberries not as a business

Raspberry producers who do not have their own labor force and enter this production for profit should know that raspberries are for market production and that the price of inputs (labor and materials) as well as outputs (fruits) is determined by the market. This means that the production risk is borne by the producer. An output of 10-12 tons is not economically justified (see the calculations below).

As a business, it is justified only under very favorable agroecological conditions and where yields exceed 12 tons.

Therefore, raspberry producers in Kosovo should keep in mind that: Raspberries should be a family crop/tree.