site.btaBulgaria Holds First National Scientific Conference on Environment

The National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (NIMH) is holding Tuesday and Wednesday the First National Scientific Conference on Environment. It aims to strengthen collaboration between scientists from different scientific institutions at the national level and encourage young scientists to actively participate in interdisciplinary environmental research in the fields of meteorology, climatology, hydrology and ecology, in relation to risk assessment and forecasting of natural disasters including - floods, droughts, thunderstorms, cold and heat waves, high winds and air pollution.

Among the official guests at the opening ceremony were outgoing Environment and Water Minister Julian Popov, outgoing Agriculture and Food Minister Kiril Vatev; the chairman and deputy chairman of the parliamentary environmental committee in Parliament, Stanislav Anastasov and Tatyana Sultanova; the Executive Director of the National Association of Grain Producers, Natalia Shukadarova; the Director General of the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology, Prof. Dr. Tanya Marinova.

As he addressed the participants, Environment Minister Popov urged the researchers to encourage their young scholars. He wished them fruitful work at the forum and cooperation in their research work. He said the government "is looking forward to the results of research work and will readily adjust its decisions to make them more meaningful and adequate".

Agriculture Minister Vatev spoke about the importance of meteorology for agriculture and about the crucial role of water availability. To illustrate that, he said that the corn yield in Bulgaria is 4 t/ha from land that is not irrigated and as much as 16 t/ha to 20 t/ha from land that is irrigated.  He said that the ultimate goal in the joint work of the Ministries of Environment and of Agriculture is to come to a point to make it realistic for the State to be required to ensure access to water for irrigation to farmers.

The forum is divided into sessions in four areas. The topics on the first day are Climate change: past, present, future; Weather forecast and extreme weather warning; Observation and interpretation of atmospheric, hydrospheric and biospheric data; and Agrimeteorologic conditions: challenges to agri-technologies.