Tobacco growing is a vitally important sector for our country and for this reason the persons employed in the sector should mistrust the security of the sector in the period 2014-2020. This statement was made by agriculture and food minister Prof. Dimitar Grekov at a meeting with tobacco growers and tobacco purchasing companies in Harmanli, organized by the National Association of Tobacco Growers 2010.
“Most people employed in the sector do not have any other alternative for development except tobacco growing and consequently, MoAF will search for other opportunities to stimulate the sector”, explained minister Grekov. He recalled that the funds stipulated for tobacco growers in budget 2014 amounted to 100 million BGN.
Deputy-minister Abazov stated explicitly that the tobacco cultivated in our country was in demand and selling well, and that it was an indispensable raw material in making quality cigarettes. He called upon the tobacco growers to be more active in providing additional profitability through the opportunities of the new Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, in which the stipulated measures were more flexible and simplified, so that tobacco growers were also eligible to apply for them with respect to funding small farms in the form of agricultural and biological measures, and landscape improvement.
Deputy-minister Valentina Marinova stated that such meetings were extremely important for the ministerial team, because each production provided jobs and means of living.