Empowering Bulgaria’s Agriculture: A Focus on CAP and Rural Development

Common agricultural policy in Bulgaria

The common agricultural policy in Bulgaria supports the dynamism and economic viability of rural areas through funding and actions to support the development of rural areas. The main objectives of the currently implemented CAP in Bulgaria are to ensure an acceptable standard of living for farmers, to provide quality food for consumers at reasonable prices, to preserve the European heritage in rural areas and to protect the environment. These objectives are mainly achieved through direct payments and market support to farmers.

Challenges facing rural areas

The EU’s rural areas are an important part of the European way of life. They are home to 137 million people, which represents almost 30% of the population and more than 80% of its territory, taking into account all local communities with a small population or low population density. They are widely recognized and valued in food production, natural resource management, natural landscape conservation, recreation and tourism. Many of our traditions and festivals and much of our culture are inextricably linked to rural Europe. However, social and economic changes in recent decades, including globalization and urbanization, are changing the role and character of rural areas, which are also affected by population decline and aging. Many Europeans are concerned about the deteriorating state of infrastructure and service provision in rural areas, including access to healthcare, social services and education, as well as postal and banking services. Others express concern about declining employment opportunities and possible declines in rural incomes or limited transport and digital connectivity.

Plan for the recovery of agriculture in Bulgaria

The main reforms and investments in Bulgarian agriculture are aimed at sustainable agriculture, increasing competitiveness and sustainable management of agricultural holdings in the conditions of climate change and environmental protection requirements. This process should have an impact on the technical and technological renewal of the agricultural sector. Assistance in agriculture will be implemented under two programs: Fund for promoting the technological and ecological transition in agriculture; Digitization of “farm to fork” processes.

Sustainable innovative solutions in agriculture

Digitization allows the agrarian economy to realize its high potential and achieve the same successes as the high-tech spheres of the economy: increasing productivity, adding value, improving quality and safety, and therefore income and quality of life, drastically reducing pollution to sustainable levels, flexible and quick response to market trends. Real-time monitoring of production development conditions, precise control of plant enemies, tracking from farm to fork, balancing consumption and other new technologies, easing the administrative burden, accurately predicting crop development stages – all this becomes possible thanks to the application of the latest computer technologies, robots and artificial intelligence.