The effect of the measures under Axis 1 of the Rural Development Program 2007–2013 among Bulgarian farmers

Abstract

For measures of Axis 1 is separated 42% of the EU Community’s contribution for the three axes, which determines their key role in the restructuring and modernization of Bulgarian agriculture, forestry and food industries. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of the implementation of Axis 1 of the Rural Development Program (RDP) on the competitiveness of the agricultural sector. As a result of discussions held in numerous focus groups and surveys, it is clear that the main obstacles to increasing the competitiveness of agricultural sector are: some limited access to productive resources and high production costs; insufficient operational capital; low mechanization of production; limited market access; competitive imports of agricultural products, and frequently changing regulations; lack of experience in managing projects funded by various measures. The highest contribution to solving these problems have measures – 141 “Support for semi-subsistence farms”, 121 “Modernization of agricultural holdings” and 112 “Young farmers”.