Access of Argicultural Producers from the Fruit Growing Sector to Investment Assistance
I. PENOV, V. MANOLOVA
Abstract: Horticulture is an important sub-sector of Bulgarian agriculture. But in recent decades, its contribution to the national economy decreased. The share of the
fruits’ proportion in the gross crops’ output for the last ten years has shrunk more than doubled. The share of the fruits’ proportion in total agricultural exports’ also decreased. There are persistent negative trends in the sector. Economic policy of the country, within the frame of CAP, should meet the challenges facing the sector. Monitoring report on the implementation of RDP of Bulgaria, however, found that most of the resources are allocated to the cereal sector, and relatively few have been used by the fruit and vegetable sector. This could lead to distortion of the crop structure of the sector, market prices and deepening the problems in horticulture. In the present article, we analyze the importance of: 1)farms’ characteristics; 2)farmers’ experience and education; 3)access to information and 4) farmers attitudes on the access to investment measures of the Bulgarian RDP. For this purpose interviews were
conducted among 50 fruit producers from four planning regions of the country. The study found statistical support that size, the access to information and
consultancy the increase in profitability have a positive effect on the number of projects. However, we did not find statistical support that specialization, education; experience and plans for expansion have a positive impact on the number of projects. This raises at least two interesting issues - 1)Why when there are programs to help horticulture respondents rely primarily on their own resources?, and 2) Whether the programs reach those for whom they are intended?
fruits’ proportion in the gross crops’ output for the last ten years has shrunk more than doubled. The share of the fruits’ proportion in total agricultural exports’ also decreased. There are persistent negative trends in the sector. Economic policy of the country, within the frame of CAP, should meet the challenges facing the sector. Monitoring report on the implementation of RDP of Bulgaria, however, found that most of the resources are allocated to the cereal sector, and relatively few have been used by the fruit and vegetable sector. This could lead to distortion of the crop structure of the sector, market prices and deepening the problems in horticulture. In the present article, we analyze the importance of: 1)farms’ characteristics; 2)farmers’ experience and education; 3)access to information and 4) farmers attitudes on the access to investment measures of the Bulgarian RDP. For this purpose interviews were
conducted among 50 fruit producers from four planning regions of the country. The study found statistical support that size, the access to information and
consultancy the increase in profitability have a positive effect on the number of projects. However, we did not find statistical support that specialization, education; experience and plans for expansion have a positive impact on the number of projects. This raises at least two interesting issues - 1)Why when there are programs to help horticulture respondents rely primarily on their own resources?, and 2) Whether the programs reach those for whom they are intended?
Keywords: awareness; Bulgaria; CAP; effects; fruit growing farms; national policy; perceptions; realities
Date published: 2018-03-21
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