Agricultural Minister Plamen Abrovski announced that our country will insist that the oil-producing rose receive protection like cotton in the EU.
In early June, during a visit to the city of Stara Zagora, the minister commented on another difficult campaign for rose growers and stated that it is inexplicable why, since Bulgaria’s entry into the EU, no real actions have been taken to protect this traditional Bulgarian livelihood at the European level.
“We have an idea – in the way that cotton is listed in European regulations, the oil-producing rose should also be listed in the next programming period. The fact is that out of the entire European Union, it is grown only in Bulgaria,” Abrovski said.
According to him, there is a completely logical possibility to apply the same mechanism that is already used for cotton – with protected areas and a separate budget.
“Just as cotton has a separate budget and specific protected hectares, the same mechanism can be applied to roses,” the minister explained.
He stressed that the state will insist that the topic be included in the next EU programming period, although in his opinion Bulgaria is seriously late with such an initiative.
“We will do everything possible to make this happen, even if three programming periods later,” Abrovski was categorical.
The statement comes against the backdrop of the difficult situation in the sector, where producers have been signaling low purchase prices, lack of sufficient support and a serious risk that some of the rose fields will be abandoned for years.
Illustrative photo: pexels-rajesh-s-balouria-1289088-18345252
