"The horticultural industry, especially vegetable production, in Bulgaria has long-standing traditions due to the extremely favorable soil and climate conditions for this type of agriculture. But now Bulgarian vegetable production is facing a lot of difficulties and obstacles regarding a lack of labor, the unregulated import of fruits and vegetables from third countries, and the increasing price of energy carriers for heated greenhouses due to the war in Ukraine. All of this makes some producers question continuing in this business at all," says Teodora Krasteva, Executive Director of the Bulgarian Greenhouse Growers' Association (BGGA).
BGGA is a branch organization with headquarters in the city of Plovdiv. The association was established in 2000 and has been lobbying for over 23 years, presenting, and defending the interests of greenhouse growers in Bulgaria. They unite about 273 ha of steel, glass, and plastic-coated greenhouses, representing around 40% of greenhouse areas in the country. They also assist and support the assembling of greenhouse construction, supplies of materials, equipment, seeds, seedlings, and fertilizers, as well as organize training sessions on different topics while contributing to improving the conditions of life and work in rural areas.
A difficult situation
The first obstacle Teodora talks about is that of labor, a pain point for many European countries these days. "The lack of labor is already palpably felt because of the labor migration of people to Western Europe and because of the harsh working conditions in this sector and lack of interest from the younger generation to do agricultural work. The age limit of those employed in this sector is rising more and more, which means that within a few years, we will not have enough employed in this sector, which will necessitate the need to import labor from other countries."
According to Teodora, the recent challenges in Bulgaria are also related to the unregulated import of fruits and vegetables from other countries. The budget from European funds for the greenhouse production sector is also insufficient, despite this sector being one of the most energy-intensive, with a lot of manual labor that cannot be replaced by mechanization.
"This is not the case in our neighboring countries, Greece, Turkey, and Macedonia, where a lot of money is invested in the vegetable production sector and in the construction of greenhouses for their year-round production. All this gives rise to quite high competition in the relatively small Bulgarian market, which is good for the end user, but local producers must find a way to increase their efficiency to stay competitive."
Lastly, there is the current energy situation due to the war in Ukraine, which had an effect on gas and energy prices across Europe and can still especially be felt in the surrounding area today. "The situation in the energy sector caused by the war in Ukraine last year had quite severe consequences, especially in the greenhouse sector in Bulgaria. The increase in the prices of energy carriers literally led to the refusal of most producers to grow vegetables during the winter period, which affected the market in the lack of Bulgarian vegetables during this period, and this niche was occupied by imported production at a much higher price. Unfortunately, this problem is still echoing this year, and if an action plan is not made by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food for the greenhouse production sector, we will have a significant decline in this sector in a few years, which is otherwise traditional for Bulgaria," says Teodora.
Opportunities for the sector
Despite the bad current situation, Teodora still sees potential for the Bulgarian greenhouse sector in the future. "The opportunities for the sector are enormous due to the available natural conditions, as long as there is a properly constructed strategy by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food so that the sector is stimulated and favorable conditions are created for the development of this business in Bulgaria."
For more information:
Teodora Krasteva, Executive Director
Bulgarian Greenhouse Grower's Association
4003 Plovdiv, 12 Dobrotich Str.
Tel.: +359 32 968 158
Mob.: +359 87 9839565
Email: [email protected]
www.bapop.org