The small amount of money that European Union pays the farmers makes them uncompetitive on the market
by Svetlana Trifonovska

 

At present there are over 3 million tons of wheat in Bulgaria in stock and about 4 million tons other cereals. The wheat not only in our country but also in the whole world is without liquidity and high yields are expected in the countries of the south hemisphere, Plamen Borisov, chairman of the Union of Grain Producers in Bulgaria, said. The only way Bulgarian farmers can get out of this situation of wheat over-abundance is to sell immediately the crop to get fresh money.

 

The price of EUR 101 per ton is not attractive for the farmers because the cost of production has increased since last year as a result of the rise in fuel and fertilizers but there are farmers who were flexible. We managed to sell considerable quantities in the summer so now we practically have no problems, Georgi Hadjiyski, dairy owner and farmer, who cultivates 60 million sq. m of land in the north of Bulgaria, said. According to him, the problem of the farmers in the country can be sold if they get the subsidies in October, so that to have money available for seeds. In this way they could store the grain till the price rises.

 

In the meantime the government decided to fulfil the demands of the farmers and to compensate them from the pre-accession contracts but not earlier than January or February 2009.