Bulgaria Newsflash Week 12

For the First Time, Government Offers Insurance Assistance to Grain Farmers

For the first time, Bulgaria offers this year co-financing for insurance to wheat, barley, rapeseed, maize and sunflower growers. Applications will be expected until July 30. Growers of grain and oil-bearing crops can receive up to 35% of the insurance premium for up to 2,000 ha. It makes up to BGN 21 (EUR 10.5) per ha for an insurance of BGN 60 (EUR 30) per ha.

Bulgaria’s Vegetable Export Increases by 160% in Six Years

In 2020, the export of vegetables from Bulgaria reached 48,261 t increasing by 160% over period of six years, AgroPlovdiv reports citing official statistics. The same period also saw an increase –albeit not as steep - in vegetable import: in 2020 it totalled 272,127 t after growing by 29%. With fruit, the picture is not as clear due to the bananas and citruses, which this country re-exports, but the trend is surely upward both for import and export.

Bulgarian Company Exports Duck Meat across Europe

The Bulgarian company Bulchicken exports duck meat to over 25 countries with its main clients being in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Germany, France, the Netherlands and the UK. “In the past five years, we have established ourselves as the only company which breeds White Peking ducks and produces duck meat in Bulgaria,” founder and CEO Nikolay Zikolov said in a Bloomberg TV Bulgaria interview. Established by the Zikolov brothers 20 years ago, the company has ambitions to enter more markets but before that Bulgaria needs to sign veterinary agreements.

EUR 887 Mln Available for Bulgarian Farming

The Bulgarian government has approved the 11^th amendment to the Rural Development Progrmme 2014-2020 whereby this country will have close to EUR 887 million available in 2021 and 2022. The funding will go to farmers and processing companies, young farmers and small farms, and municipalities. The call to proposals for the main investment measures are expected this year, Banker weekly reported.

Emergency COVID Aid for Bulgarian Farmers Extended into 2021

The emergency aid for the Bulgarian farmers who suffered the brunt of the coronavirus crisis, will continue in 2021, Balgarski Fermer weekly reported. According to an ordinance that has been published for public consultation by the Agriculture Ministry, a new call for proposals will be announced for this year. The aid will be available in the sectors of Fruit and Vegetables; Oil-bearing Roses; Vine Grapes; Ornamental Flowers; Stock Breeding; and Bee Keeping. The sub-measure was approved by the European Commission last year with a budget of BGN 93.5 million, of which just over BGN 70 million has been paid out and the rest remains to be distributed.

Bulgarian Researchers Participate in Europe-wide Study of Organic Land

Bulgarian researchers are participating in a Europe-wide pilot study aiming to demarcate organic areas from areas of conventional farming through surveying, drone and satellite observation, Agrozona news magazine said. The EU-funded study has been done for test fields with common and durum wheat grown by conventional and organic methods by two agricultural institutes in Bulgaria. Snap results show that the differences in the development of the crops in the two types of fields are identifiable and the information from the satellite images can be used for demarcating the different fields.