The draft of the Law on the Supply Chain of Agricultural Products and Food has been sent for an impact assessment by scientists. All received opinions have been processed. This was announced by the Minister of Agriculture and Food, Dr. Georgi Tahov, during the 19th Easter edition of the national campaign “Yes! To Bulgarian Food“, organized at the initiative of the newspaper “Standart“.
He pointed out that the draft provides for regulation of only 22 food products, against the background of over 15 thousand, and its goal is for agricultural producers to receive a fair price for the products produced. “We comply with all norms and rules, the approach is very serious“, commented Minister Tahov and added that a one-month public discussion of the bill will also be held.
All farmers whose plantations suffered from frost in recent days will receive assistance from the state, Minister Tahov also said. “Farmers must comply with the regulations and submit applications for compensation under the state aid scheme. Assistance will be available not only for fruit and vegetable producers, but also for grain producers if there is damage to crops“, he added.
In this regard, Dr. Tahov recalled that the MAF team is working on establishing a Mutual Fund for additional compensation to farmers in risk management. For this purpose, 1.5% of all direct payments are being withheld from the funds earmarked for Campaign 2025 this year. “It is important to know that a condition for receiving compensation from the Mutual Fund will be the presence of active insurance of the production, concluded with an insurance company“, commented the Minister of Agriculture and Food.
In order to develop the irrigation systems in the country, we plan to build six new dams, announced Minister Tahov. Irrigation remains a priority for him and his team, and with funds from the Rural Development Program 2014-2020, 24 facilities of “Irrigation Systems“ will be renovated by the beginning of the irrigation season. Under the Strategic Plan for the Development of Agriculture and Rural Areas 2023-2027, irrigation receptions were carried out with a total budget of 100 million. euros and rehabilitation of another 41 facilities of “Irrigation systems“ is planned. Our long-term goal is to expand the irrigated areas by over 3 million decares, said Minister Tahov.