Environmental sustainability of Bulgarian agriculture

Abstract

The concerns of the public and of humankind in the context of ongoing global climate change processes recently have increasingly raised the issue of sustainable development. As a result, it is pointed as one of the key objectives of the Millennium, and in this light, achieving sustainable agriculture is a top priority of the EU’s CAP. Most often the understanding of sustainable agriculture is linked to the environment, because by default a farming system cannot be sustainable if it causes environmental damage. In this regard environmental sustainability of agriculture is seen as an integral part of the sustainability model in the agricultural sector. Over the last decades, the importance of environmental sustainability has been expanding and growing, and this trend will continue in the future, making it particularly relevant for research.
The role of the environmental management as part of the sustainable development stands out clearly and differentiated. Environmental sustainability is linked to ensuring better protection of land, water and biodiversity through better utilization of fertilizers, better organization of plant protection, efficient agricultural practices; more efficient use of energy; preserving animal welfare; better waste management in agriculture, etc.
The purpose of the article is to present the main results and the conclusion of a scientific study on the level of environmental sustainability in agriculture, which is part of the scientific project “Sustainability of Agriculture in Bulgaria” (2017-2018). A methodological approach that takes into account the general concepts of environmental sustainability, some peculiarities of agricultural sector and some results of research by the Institute of Agricultural Economics (IAE) in this area are used. The results obtained show that environmental sustainability in agriculture is linked to the good level of the prevailing part of its criteria and principles.