Trends in the level of concentration in Bulgarian agriculture after the accession to the European Union

Rositsa Beluhova-Uzunova, Dimo Atanasov

Abstract: After Bulgaria’s accession to the EU, dynamic structural transformations in agriculture took place. The agricultural censuses in 2003 and 2010 give a realistic picture of the current state of the sector in the country and the impact of the European Common agricultural policy (CAP) on its concentration level and the opportunities for competitive and sustainable development. The results from the study show that the CAP stimulates the increase of farms size and their consolidation and modernization, but along with the positive trends some negative changes are observed too. The main objective of the research is to evaluate the influence of the CAP on the concentration of agriculture in Bulgaria, based on comparative analysis of the structure of farm holdings, before and after the accession of the country to the European Union.

Keywords: concentration; Gini coeffcient; livestock units; regions of planning; utilized agricultural area

Date published: 2017-10-04