site.btaAgricultural Associations Sign Agreement with Ministry

Agriculture and Food Minister Kiril Vatev and five associations signed an agreement on supporting and developing the farming sector, Vatev's ministry reported on Tuesday. The five associations represent, respectively, potato growers, nut producers, mushroom farmers, owners of local sheep and goat breeds, and farmers in general (United Agricultural Producers).

The agreement acknowledges the associations' 12 demands set out in a declaration.

The sides agreed that in 2024 de minimis aid will be provided to farmers producing nuts, cultivated mushrooms and table potatoes. A working group will be set up to make proposals for the delineation of Bulgaria's climate and soil regions. Another working group will make an analysis and recommendations for a future strategic plan. At the EU level, the Agriculture and Food Ministry will push for revising GAEC 6 to drop the requirements about cultivating land at a gradient of over 10% in mountainous and semi-mountainous areas.

Before the start of the procedure for the 2025 state budget, an analysis will be carried out to determine the amount of funding needed by farmers in each sector. The analysis will be put to a broad public discussion.

The ministry will study legislative practices in other EU member states concerning the use of plant protection products. Based on that, a working group will propose changes to a relevant Bulgarian ordinance.

The ministry will help draft a bill to amend the Agricultural Land Ownership and Use Act.