Socio-economic perspectives for Bulgarian agriculture in a changing political environment

Abstract

An attempt to identify markers for the manifestation of certain socio-economic prospects for Bulgarian agriculture, as a result of the changing political situation in Bulgaria, is the aim of this study. The genesis of some of the modern processes in the sector can be dated more than three decades ago. With the transformation of the social model in our country, changes begin, which mark two significant economic transitions – to a free market and to a common European market. The processes that take place in the national economic system have a strong impact on the economic environment in the agricultural sector. The monopoly advantages for the development of agriculture in our country fall within the coordinate system of political decisions for cardinal agrarian reform, the emanation of which was the restitution of the land to the former owners “in real boundaries“, reform dominated by motives for restored justice and administrative decisions taken in the absence of in-depth economic analysis. Agriculture passes through a high share of uncultivated land, looking for a way to the market economy. When joining the common European market, a number of imbalances with the rank of inequalities appear, which arise from the intensive expansion of the production of extensive crops with a merged surface, as a consequence of the chosen method of support – per unit area. Intensive – the fruit and vegetable sectors, and the livestock sub-sector have been declared “vulnerable”. Migration processes to large urban centers accelerate the depopulation of a number of small settlements in rural areas. These processes are at odds with changes in Community agricultural policy and cause adverse socio-economic problems. The changes that have taken place in the Bulgarian society find expression in the trust that some of the political subjects receive during the last election process in our country. The request for a change in the legislative initiative testifies to the identified problems in Bulgarian agriculture and the will to improve the socio- economic prospects for the sector.