Organic farming in Bulgaria faces serious challenges that were at the center of an international conference organized by the BIOSELENA Foundation for Organic Agriculture, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Bulgarian Organic Products Association during the AGRA 2019 International Agricultural Exhibition.

A total of 150 people – farmers, inspectors, scientists, consultants, merchants, students, journalists – took part in the event. Among the presenters were representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, the scientific community, manufacturers and certification organizations, as well as experts from Germany and Italy.

The first panel discussed the latest changes in Bulgarian organic legislation, which raised serious concerns among producers, processors, traders and certification companies with unprecedented sanctions worldwide: Ordinance No 5 of 3 September 2018 and the Law for Application of the Common Organization of Agricultural Markets in the EU. The good news is that the Ministry of Agriculture is beginning to listen to the voice of business and experts. A series of meetings has already started and there is hope for positive development.

In the second panel of the conference, “THE RESEARCH SUPPORTS ORGANIC PRODUCERS”, three international projects were explored, from which the organic farmers can draw on knowledge and experience: CORE Organic DOMINO, as well as LIVESEED and RELACS on which the BIOSELENA Foundation works.

Here you can find a summary of the conference information: presentations, questions asked and opinions spoken (in Bulgarian).

Full Presentations:

Recent data on organic farming in Bulgaria – Mihail Karabelyov, Director of Department Plant Production and Organic Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry

How recent changes in Ordinance №5 and Law for Application of the Common Organization of Agricultural Markets in the EU will affect the certification of organic operators in Bulgaria – Assoc. Prof. Anna Karova, Executive Director, Q Certification SA, Bulgaria;

Possible risks and consequences for organic farmers from the changes in Ordinance № 5 – Albena Simeonova, BOPA;

Zero tolerance? How to deal with contaminations and residues in organic products – Dr. Jochen Neuendorff, Gesellschaft für Ressourcenschutz mbH, Göttingen, Germany;

National Research Programme of the Ministry of Education and Science for the period 2018 – 2022 – Prof. Vladislav Popov, coordinator

Production of organic seeds and organic breeding – Prof. Violeta Bojanova, Agricultural Academy, Research Institute for Arable crops – Chirpan;

Organic fruit production: Some data about economic impact in Italy; The system approach of the CORE Organic “DOMINO” project – Prof. Dr. Davide Neri, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy;

Organic seeds in Europe – LIVESEED project – Petya Pencheva, Bioselena;

Is the phase out of copper use in organic farming approaching? –  RELACS project, agr. Nikolai Tihov, Bioselena

Gallery with photos from the conference:

 

Special gratitude to farms and producers for providing delicious foods and drinks for the Conference’s cocktail:

Orbelus Winery – organic wines;

Assen Yovev – apples;

Harmonica – feta and yellow cheese, waffels;

Blagovesta Vassilieva – veal and meat delicatessen;

Yossif Kostov – yellow cheese;

Farm Kozle – goat cheese;

Gimel – orgainic cucumbers;

Albena Simeonova – organic wines;

Nuhealth Bulgaria – brown rice biscuits.