Dynamics and challenges facing the development of small vegetable producers in Bulgaria through the prism of extension services
Teodora Stoeva, Violeta Dirimanova, Minko Georgiev
Abstract: The social and economic changes that followed after 1990, have had a catastrophic impact on vegetable production in Bulgaria. Bulgaria has lost her strong position as a traditional vegetable producer and exporter. A major challenge facing Bulgarian vegetable production is its modernization – it would help increase the production competitiveness, so that the vegetable products can meet the current quality requirements and compete with the imported vegetables. The concept of agricultural extension services is to support the development of human resources, as well as to provide a good source of information, which is necessary to solve the current issues that farmers in rural areas are facing today. The role of consultancy, which consists in creating an environment that favours the development of agriculture and rural areas, including incentives to support agricultural production, political stability and the system for land resource use, will guarantee the producer benefits that derive from the improvements, made to their agricultural practice. The national policy in most countries maintains agricultural consultancy organizations that aim to offer additional assistance services to farmers. The legislation should set out the objectives and scope of the consultancy activity, focusing on the way of development of rural areas. The relation between research activity and extension services should be regarded as the basis for the development and implementation of agricultural programs. The aim of this study is to analyze the role of the extension services for the development of small vegetable producers in Bulgaria, which is characterized by great intensity and dynamics, focusing on the extension services.
Keywords: challenges; consultancy; extension services
Citation: Stoeva, T., Dirimanova, V. & Georgiev, M. (2025). Dynamics and challenges facing the development of small vegetable producers in Bulgaria through the prism of extension services. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 31(1), 45–49.
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| Date published: 2025-02-25
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