Identifying the Needs of Small Farms from Four Sectors to Increase Their Competitiveness

D. Nikolov, P. Borisov, T. Radev

Abstract: A characteristic feature of the structure of agricultural holdings in Bulgaria is its dual nature.This essence is expressed in a large number of small farms cultivating small part of the utilized agricultural area, and a small number of large farms processing a significant proportion of UAA. Small farms are important in terms of providing employment in rural areas and they play the role of a social buffer in times of economic crisis. In these farms, a significant part of the production is used for own consumption, which limits the income from agricultural activities and opportunities for investment and structural development. The purpose of this paper is to identify the key factors of competitiveness of small farms in order to provide workable proposals to achieve sustainable competitiveness of these organizations in the new CAP planning period 2014-2020. To realize this objective methodological point of view it is necessary to solve two major problems - first: to identify specific characteristics of small farms and second, to identify their factors of competitiveness. Knowledge of these factors is the first step in taking measures to increase the competitiveness of small farms. In implementing this process, the farmers actively participate. Determine the set of factors by which small farms were tested in different sectors of agriculture. Ties of the factors of competitiveness in the statistical groupings of farms were examined by applying the χ2-analysis. The result of the analysis establishes the basic factorial
competitiveness of small farms in the sectors where they dominate and identify their needs.

Keywords: profit; restructuring; risk management; small farms factors of competitiveness

Date published: 2018-03-27