Assessment of Sustainability of Major Sub-sectors of Bulgarian Agriculture

Hrabrin Bachev, Bodjidar Ivanov, Dessislava Toteva

Abstract: Despite enormous progress in the theory and practices of assessment of sustainability of agro-systems of different type, in Bulgaria there are no comprehensive studies on absolute and comparative sustainability of major subsectors of agriculture. This paper makes a first attempt to assess absolute and comparative sustainability of major subsectors of Bulgarian agriculture. Initially, a holistic framework for assessing integral, economic, social and ecological sustainability of agriculture including 17 principles, 35 criteria, and 46 indicators and reference values is suggested. After that the overall and the aspects sustainability of major crop and livestock subsectors in Bulgaria is assessed. Estimates are based on the first-hand information collected by the managers of “typical” farms with different specialisation operating in 4 administrative and geographical regions of the country. The study has found out that there is a substantial variation in the level of integral and aspects sustainability of subsectors of different type as individual indicators with the highest and lowest values showing (critical) factors enhancing and deterring sustainability. With the highest integral sustainability are mixed livestock and mixed crops holdings, followed by the farms specialised in permanent crops, while the least sustainable are subsectors pigs, poultries and rabbits, vegetables, flowers and mushrooms, and mixed crop-livestock productions.

Keywords: agrarian sustainability; Bulgaria; ecological; economic; social; subsectors

Date published: 2019-07-11