Bulgaria Newsflash Week 35
If you have ever tried the traditional Shopska Salad, we have interesting news for you. 2021 seems to be a good year for the fans of the Bulgarian apples. Swine breeders, however, have tough time. More than half of the harvested wheat is with fine baking qualities.
Enjoy our latest Agri News bulletin!
Is it a good year for the vegetables going into the traditional Bulgarian Shopska Salad
What has been the output of tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers, the ingredients for the traditional Bulgarian Shopska Salad? The current estimates of the Centre for Agri-Policy Analyses (САРА) are for the production of tomatoes to exceed by 7% last year’s output of 125,000 t. The production of peppers is expected around 53,000 t, which is 3% more than last year which was a ten-year low (51,000 t). CAPA expects the output of greenhouse cucumbers to be around 43,000 t adding up to a total of 55,000 to 60,000 t for all types of cucumbers.
Agriculture Ministry figures for 2020 showed a decline for all key vegetables, including 20% for tomatoes and peppers and 26% for cucumbers. That was largely due to shrinking open-air vegetable gardens (by 45% for tomatoes, 13% for peppers and 55% for cucumbers). Greenhouse vegetable production remained largely unchanged from 2019.
Is it going to be a good year for apples in Bulgaria
The harvesting of apples and desert grapes has started in Bulgaria and the amount harvested so far is 132 t and 6 t, respectively, AgriBG reports. The production of apples in early August was 100% more than this time last year and the average yield increased by 14.3% to 9,430 kg/ha. Operational figures show that the production of cherries and sour cherries was slightly below last year’s (by 5.1% and 2.3%). The average yield for cherries dropped to 4,700 kg/ha. The output of raspberries and apricots increased by 11.1% and over three-fold from 2020. The average yields increased for both crops. For peaches, it was combined with an increase in plantations. At this stage, the output of peaches, plums and pears lags behind last year by 23.6% - 54.9%.
Swine breeders seek government support as they are faced with bankruptcy and demise of sector
The two associations of swine breeders in Bulgaria are preparing a letter to the President, the Prime Minister and the Agriculture Minister calling for additional support from the government, reports the Agrozona news outlet. At the moment the crisis in animal husbandry is felt most acutely in swine farming because the purchase prices for pork has dropped dramatically while the prices of animal feed have gone through the roof. The price of pork was driven down by African swine fever, the changes on the Chinese markets and the huge production in Western Europe which can no longer reach the markets of the Far East and is flooding Europe with cheap meat. At the same time, the cost for biosecurity, which aims to stop African swine fever from entering the swine farms, remain high, says Ventsislav Slavov, CEO of Ajax Group whose business includes swine farms, animal feed plants, an abattoir and a meat packing plant.
Half of the harvested wheat in Bulgaria is bread-grade
Tests of the quality of wheat done by the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency on batches from 960,617 t show that just over half of the harvested wheat is bread-grade, reports the Sinor news outlet. The quantity harvested by August 6 totals 6,318,583 t and the tests were done on 24.36% of the harvested amount. The experts concluded that of the tested wheat, 52.22% falls in first, second and second B group, which means that it has fine baking qualities.