“Bulgaria is the creator of five of the most elite varieties of tobacco. We all could be proud of such a contribution Bulgarian agricultural science has given a lot to world tobacco production”. This said the Minister of Agriculture and Food, Kiril Vatev, during the 37th Congress of the European Tobacco Growers' Association UNITAB, which is being held in Sofia. The organizer and host of the event the Bulgarian National Tobacco Growers' Association-2010, MEP Atidzhe Alieva-Veli also participated in it.
Minister Kiril Vatev emphasized that attitudes towards tobacco on a global scale are not unanimous, but for Bulgaria, it is a very old tradition, which is a major economic, social, and demographic factor. He informed that the number of applicants under the transitional national tobacco aid scheme for the 2023 campaign in Bulgaria is 8,295 for 17,049,140 kg of tobacco. In 2023, 2,282 hectares were sown with oriental tobacco, or 22.6% more than in 2022. 3,411 tonnes were produced, an increase of 33.5%, and the average yield per hectare increased by 8.7% to 150 kg.
Exports of raw and untreated tobacco of all varieties for 2021 totaled 22,908 tons, representing 2.7% of total agricultural exports. Exports for 2022 are 23,616 tonnes. In the first half of 2023, exports reached 10,284 tonnes. He commented that this year the results in tobacco production are very good.