BELGRADE, July 31 (Xinhua) -- The Serbian government allocated 825 million RSD (8.2 million U.S. dollars) to help cooperatives within the project "500 villages -- 500 cooperatives", a government minister said Tuesday.

At a press conference, Milan Krkobabic, minister without portfolio in charge of regional development, invited Serbian farmers to cooperate and compete for the funds.

Krkobabic said in the past 12 months, 22 cooperatives received 196 million RSD of grants.

Krkobabic said Serbian agricultural properties in are small in size, not exceeding 4.5 hectares in average, and "establishing cooperatives is an imperative, and not a simple wish".

The three-year project "500 villages -- 500 cooperatives" started in spring 2017, aiming to establish new cooperatives. Some 270 cooperatives were registered so far.