Pig Breeding - before and after Bulgarias Accession to the EU

D. Mitova

Abstract: In this paper an attempt is made to assess the state of pig breeding before and after of Bulgaria’s accession to the EU and to put accents on the problems and opportunities of its further development. With the accession of Bulgaria to the EU new factors that the sub-sector must comply appear – opportunity to access European market, elimination of customs barriers, and protection from competition in trade with third countries, specific requirements for food safety, quality products, environmental protection, and animal welfare. Some of these factors positively influence the pig production’ development, others set specific requirements to comply with. The state of pig breeding and its ability of reproducing is an indicator of its readiness to meet the new requirements and to adapt to the new conditions. The development of the pig breeding, like other livestock sub-sectors in the last twenty years marked a sharp decline in terms of total animal numbers and production. Compared to other sub-sectors, in the pig breeding this reduction was the biggest. If the annual average base for the period 2004-2006 is 100%, the annual average number of pigs for the period 2007-2011 is 76.4% of the base, i.e. sows - 77.8%. Trend in production of pig generally follows trends in changes in the number of pigs per year. More and more pig farms implement grading scale (S) EUROP, which ensures the production of quality meat and adequate remuneration of producers. Breeding also changed direction to yield meat with less fat. Since 2008, in the pig breeding sector began consolidation and concentration. The structure of pig farms changes. The share of large industrial farms grows, because of their large capacity to meet the requirements for product safety and quality; for animal welfare, for sanitary and hygiene and for environment protection. In other words - industrialization of the sector continued. Large industrial farms that produce quality products and are competitive remain on the market. In 2011 the total number of farms raising pigs is 61.2 thousand and decreased by 30.5% compared to 2010, while the number of pigs decreased only by 8.4%. Pig sector remains one of the most concentrated in livestock. 97.5% of the total number of pig farms grows from 1 to 9 animals. These holdings are 37.9% less than in year 2010 and they keep 16.4% of all pigs. In the farms with 1 000 or more pigs that are 59 units (0.1% of all pig farms) are grown over 74.6% of all pigs in the country. The distribution of pig farms and the number of pigs as per the size of the UAA leads to the conclusion that very few pig farms can feel tangible support payments per unit area (the holdings with over 10 ha UAA are only 5% of all farms and are raising 23.9% of all animals). There is no financial support for the pig sector in the EU, respectively, in Bulgaria. This contributes to its production decrease. The sector does not provide production quotas or direct measures for the producers. Payment of export subsidies and intervention (government or corporate control) under European law is envisaged. The payments per unit area will be felt more tangibly only from 5 percent of the farms that hold approximately ¼ of the production in the sub-sector. In accordance with paragraph 51 of the Community guidelines on state aid in the agriculture and forestry from 2007 to 2013, to support farmers to implement voluntary commitments to animal welfare, in pig production sector is taken the initiative to offer support measures. The assistance to be provided to pig farmers who commit themselves to one or more of the measures for a period of at least five years and meet certain conditions. The duration of the aid scheme is to 31.12.2013. The pig meet is a traditional for the diet of the Bulgarian consumer product. Since production costs and prices of domestic production are less competitive compared to imported meat, Bulgarian pig production shifts to produce meat for fresh consumption. Therefore, domestic demand largely determines the possibilities for development of the sector. This trend is helped as well as by orientation of Bulgarian consumers to white meats, especially chicken, that are more competitive in price then pork meet. We should improve the quality and safety of meat in the pig sector, in order to be in line with European requirements.We need also to improve breeding technologies, to provide comfort to the animals and to protect the environment. It can be concluded that in the last five years (after accession to the EU) the pig sector in Bulgaria is relatively stable in a relatively low base. Overall, in the next few years significant positive changes in production and consumption of pork in the country are not expected.

Keywords: CAP; future development possibilities; national agricultural policy; pig breeding; pig farms; pig meat production; support measures

Date published: 2018-03-30