“The task of the team of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food is to increase the production of Bulgarian fruits and vegetables with the active participation of agricultural producers”, said Minister of Agriculture and Food, Kiril Vatev, during the Advisory Council on Fruits and Vegetables held at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food.
Proposals for changes to the Strategic Plan for the Development of Agriculture and Rural Areas 2023-2027, which affect the activity of the sector, issues requiring long-term planning, such as the zoning of varieties and the adaptation of production to climate change were discussed during the council.
"The goal of this Advisory Council is to connect production from the field to the table and to protect our national interest along the entire product line," said Minister Vatev. He emphasized the importance of farmers’ cooperatives and the opportunities that they provide in terms of market presence and access to investments.
The Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food, Alexander Iotzev, pointed out that the Advisory Council includes representatives from the entire food chain, so that the branch problems could be heard from everybody and they together could reach to reasonable solutions.
The Chairman of the State Commission for Commodity Exchanges and Markets, Vladimir Ivanov, commented that a dialogue had started and there should be uniform rules and transparent interaction in commercial and economic processes.
"We consolidated very quickly on the goal of changes in the Strategic Plan and in the next few weeks we will do our best to fulfill this in the fastest way," said the Chairman of the Bulgarian Association of Raspberry and Strawberry Growers Bozhidar Petkov.
"There was an agreement for the first time that the state should start implementing certain policies and organize purposefully production through these policies and its support," pointed out Associate Professor Dr. Sava Tabakov from the Agrarian University in Plovdiv.