Organic agriculture

Bulgarian team

Land use

Over 25.6 hectares of the territory of Bulgaria, or about 3% of arable lands are used for

organic agriculture.

• 56 plant growing farms• 5 livestock farms• 4 farms for seeds and nurseries

Financial support from Europe

• 900 euro for 1 hectare per year• For 5 years

The history

• 1993: The first organic pilot farm was established on the farm at the Agrarian University of Plovdiv;

• 2000–2004: The national organic legislation was founded;• 2005–2008: Organic products became available in Bulgarian

shops;

2009-2010

• Organic farmers began receiving payments from the government;

• The association of organic farmers was established;• The association of traders of organic food was set up;

The organic agriculture doesn’t use pesticides and chemicals because they are harmful for

the environment.

Advantages• Production of healthy high

quality foods;• Groundwater is protected

from pollution by nitrates, pesticides and others;

• Increased is biodiversity;

• Improved soil structure and fruitfulness;

• Reduction by around 50% of the energy consumption;

• Reduced by around 4 times soil erosion;

Disadvantages

• Reduced yields especially during the first years of transition

• Production cost price is higher than the selling price• Still completely undeveloped market for organic

production .