site.btaMultiple Challenges Put Agriculture Sector in Difficult Situation, Says Deputy Minister Yanchev

The agricultural sector is in a difficult situation due to a multitude of challenges, such as climate change, the political situation abroad, including the war in neighbouring Ukraine affecting the markets, and political developments in the European Union on the future financing of food security, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Yanislav Yanchev told Darik on Sunday. He described the situation in the sector as critical.

Things are very difficult to predict, and predictability is the most important thing for agriculture, he noted. "What we are trying to do through the support and through the measures that we are doing is exactly to provide Bulgarian farmers with some predictability so that they know that they will be able to rely on the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and rely on that to continue to develop their activity and their business," Yanchev said.

Among the challenges facing the agriculture sector, Yanchev pointed to the European Commission's draft Multiannual Financial Framework, which was presented earlier this week, calling it "a serious blow to the Common Agricultural Policy". "Since the very creation of the European Union, this has been a separate policy, with separate funds, with separate priorities. At the moment, the Commission's idea is to put it into a common fund for each country, which cannot but cause concern among farmers and the administration alike, because bear in mind that this is, in my view, a step backwards. We cannot leave behind our food security, which was at the heart of a united Europe upon the creation of the European Union," he said, adding that efforts would also have to be made on this front to defend Bulgaria's interests, as this is a common cause of both the administration and the farmers.

Yanchev stressed that in the administration, all challenges that affect production are closely monitored. He pointed out that the exchange prices of agricultural products are not within good limits either, pointing out that specifically for wheat, with an expected harvest of nearly 7 million tonnes in the country, a lower price would mean a direct blow to the incomes of Bulgarian farmers.

In his words, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food aims to find a way to support Bulgarian farmers in a balanced way. "We need to find the balance so that they all feel secure and therefore know that the State will support them in any moment they need, in the right way," he said.