COUNTRY REPORT ON THE PRESENT ENVIRONMENTAL SITUATION IN AGRICULTURE
- BULGARIA -

INTRODUCTION

The country is located in the most southern part of the temperate zone and has a strongly broken relief with diverse climatic, hydrological, soil and biogeographical conditions, favouring the development of agriculture.

Essential changes that have occurred in these concepts for integrating efforts on both a world and regional scale to solve acute social, economic and ecological problems have found a high response in Bulgaria. The paradigm for sustainable and ecologically sound development, adopted by the United Nations Organizations, was reflected in the environmental policy and development of specific programmes for the solution of ecological issues at the national, regional as well as local level. In the conditions of market economy transition, an effective environmental policy is a solid basis for restructuring the agrarian sector from the institutional, productive and infrastructural point of view with an aim to maintain sustainable and ecologically sound development in the years to come.

At the present stage of the national economic development and restructuring, in spite of the limited supporting capacities of the state and its institutions, the first steps towards the establishment of a stable environmental policy have been made. In the period of transition, soil, water and air pollution has sharply diminished, due chiefly to financial and economic reasons and less to the effect of increased environment protection control by governments and non-governmental organizations.

THE IMPACT OF TRANSITION AND STRUCTURE OF PROPERTY RIGHTS

The effect of privatization and redefinition of property rights on natural resources

As a result of the political and economic reforms started in 1989, agriculture in Bulgaria is undergoing dramatic changes. Agrarian reform, initiated in the early 1990s, is dismantling the central planning system and administrative resource distribution which changes the structure of agriculture. The main tasks of the reform are: restoration of former land property rights and the break-up of collective farms; price and trade liberalization; privatization at all points of food production; agricultural support policies, directed to solve the problems of market economy transition; development of a well-functioning finance and credit system; establishing the necessary market structure for agricultural development.

Before the start of reforms in 1989, Bulgarian agriculture as a whole was relatively efficient compared to that in the rest of the Eastern European countries, but significantly lagged behind agriculture in the United States and Canada. Over the period 1970-1989, the share of agriculture in the Bulgarian economy, expressed as a percentage of gross domestic product, decreased to reach its lowest level (10 percent) in 1989. The share of those engaged in this sector during the first years of the reform was low. The main reason foris was the process of the liquidation of former collective farms and the resulting changes in the ownership of the main means of production. At the end of the period studied, the percentage of people engaged in agriculture came to reach that of the 1980 figure (23 percent). After 1995, as a result of the measures undertaken by agrarian reform, this branch's share in the coungry's gross domestic product in 1997 increased to 22.7 percent. Most of the people engaged in farming are in the private sector. In 1997 their total number reeached 744 619. Only 2.91 percent of them worked in the public sector, the other 97.09 percent being private farmers. The high percentage of occupation in the branch as compared to the low percentage of long-term assets acquired in agriculture (around 3 percent of the total number of assets acquired in 1996/1997), is indicative of a still high labour intensity and low productivity in the branch.

In 1997, the total acreage of agricultural land in Bulgaria stood at 6 203 thousand hectares, 4 805 thousand hectares of which is arable. Private farmers cultivate 94.8 percent of the land, in contrast to 1990 when only 15.4 percent were cultivating it (Table 1). Pastures and grasslands occupy 1398 thousand ha, the share of state and public ownership still being predominant in them (71.9 percent).

In 1997, some 10 341 agricultural enterprises were registered in the country. Most of the farms have up to one hectare of land, while the share of those cultivating over 10 hectares is the lowest.

With land privatization arable land is subdivided into smaller plots for the great number of landowners' heirs. Now, the average size of land per owner is significantly less than that before collectivization (around four hectares). This prevents the practising of modern and effective farming, the application of modern agricultural technologies and high-performance machines. In our opinion, at this stage there is no suitable land market which can contribute to the natural and permanent enlargement of areas, as well as to the creation of the necessary conditions and prerequisites for the appearance of large and profitable farms. Such farms are now created by renting land.

Of the total number of farms registered in 1997, 64.1 percent are engaged in crop production, 16.4 percent in animal production, 6.4 percent in both, 12.3 percent in farm services and 0.9 percent in management of pasture areas. 95.2 percent of the Trade Law registered companies are private, only 4.6 percent of them being under state ownership. Of the private companies, only 0.6 percent have foreign participation.

A significant part of the agricultural cooperatives is owned by members of the cooperatives themselves. Another part is owned by people permanently engaged in non-agricultural branches and activities far from the location of their land. They are, however, equally deprived both of agricultural machines and equipment and the necessary financial means for the normal management of farm activities. Therefore, neither the farm cooperatives nor the private farms are able to establish sustainable crop rotation on the areas they possess. The statistical data for the areas show clearly the reorientation of labour-intensive crops to private farms and those with predominant mechanized cultivation to cooperatives and large farms, including those established on rented land.

The changes occurring in the structure of agricultural farms according to the size of their land are of significant importance for the product structure of Bulgarian agricultural production. It is affected by a number of factors of a market, social, material-technical, financial-economic and agrotechnical nature. Irrespective of the intensity of a factor's impact on the product market (including the export structure of Bulgarian agriculture), the limited number of farms, the poor material-and-technical equipment and the lack of farmer's financial abilities are decisive factors at this stage of agricultural development. This necessitates the choice of one or another agricultural activity, taking into consideration in the first place the survival of the respective farm and a minimum income guarantee for farmers. Hence, the natural resources of the country and home and international food market capacities appear to be secondary factors for the determination of the size and structure of agricultural production.

The present cooperatives as entities in the agricultural structure, managing a significant part of farm land in the country and their engagements with members of the cooperatives, are not interested enough either in market-oriented agriculture or in the use of national natural resources. Their outdated and amortized material equipment and their poor financial and economic power make them develop only activities relying on still available resources, which guarantee their survival as economic subjects. They do not undertake any market or export risks, because of the on-going procedures of land redistribution and the extremely narrow interests of their members. The statistical information for the period after the implementation of the Law for Land Ownership and Use shows a sharp increase in the percentage of uncropped areas. Their significant size is typical for the whole period of the agrarian reform. In cooperative and private farms, together holding - 95.4 percent of the arable land in the country in 1997, the share of the uncropped areas is 35.2 percent. The tendency of their increase is more strongly expressed in the private farms, which in 1995 owned nearly 90 percent of the arable lands: their uncropped areas amounted to 24.4 percent with their share in 1996 being still higher (38.9 percent).

The legal basis for land reform is the Law for Land Ownership and Use passed by the Grand National Assembly in 1991. The best main points of the law are: that the property rights of all former landholders are restored; that the latter are entitled to realize their land ownership in all possible ways; that it secures the use of farm lands only for agricultural production; that it ensures the protection of farm lands against degradation and pollution.

Land privatization, as an element of the agrarian reform in agriculture, has not yet been completed. According to data from both the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Agrarian Reform and the Statistical Institute, for 1998 about 55 percent of the landholders have already received their land. The other 45 percent of the arable lands are either not being cultivated or are being given to temporary use. The users of these lands have no property rights on them and are not interested in making any investments for their long-term improvement, which affects negatively the productivity and maintenance of the respective farms. Priority is given to the privatization of the following enterprises: those requiring investments to secure the competitiveness of the goods they produce, as well as to settle ecological problems related to their production; enterprises whose product sales would provide conditions for production increase, as well as for keeping and extending their employment capacities.

Restructurization in rural areas

Rural regions in Bulgaria occupy 84 percent of its area, but constitute only 32.3 percent of its population, or approx. 2.7 million people. Because of the high dependence of the economy of these regions on natural resources, they are specializing in the development of a limited number of activities. The most important of these are farming, wood industry, mining, trade and tourism, which are the major source of income for the people.

At the present stage of national economic development and restructuring, in spite of the limited supporting capacities of the state and its institutions, the first steps towards the establishment of a stable policy for the development of rural areas have been made. These conform with official EU documents from the December 1995European Council in Madrid of, as well as with the July 1997 stand of the European Commission of concerning the use of EU Structural Funds by associated countries.

The more important forthcoming tasks related to the development of rural areas are the following:

• Developing a national programme to determine the priorities in the use of the Structural Funds and rural area development;
  
  
• Developing some approaches and methods for evaluating the degree of the development of these regions, including their demographic situation, the level of people's employment and income, the state of the infrastructure and communications, the state of soils and forestry, characteristics of the terrain (mountainous, semi-mountainous or plain), the ecological environment, conditions for a balanced development of the regions, etc.
  
  
• Stimulating income sources through the creation of new jobs, in addition to traditional farming, such as the processing of foods with specific taste qualities, production of ecologically sound products, development of agro-tourism and so forth;
  
  
• Stimulating the development of sustainable and ecologically sound farming and preventing the negative impacts on the environment through specific ecological sanctions, national standards for ecologically sound products, complied according to the respective international standards, exploring those possibilities to include Bulgaria into the EU list of organic product exporters, as well as a system for certification.

Liberalization

After 1990, a number of changes occurred in the price policy for agricultural products. These changes led to decentralization in the procedures of price fixing, and hence to price liberalization. The results of this first step in price reform are unfavourable for the existing monopolistic practice of distribution and manufacturing. The process of price liberalization was begun in 1991. It was applied because of the inability of centrally fixed prices to send the necessary price signals to producers, as well as a result of the pressure of international financial institutions. A specific feature of price liberalization in Bulgaria is that it is applied as a part of general macroeconomic reform, and not as a specific policy with respect to the agrarian sector. As a result of this, almost all production and consumer prices have been liberalized at the same time. This leads to a sharp change in the input and output price ratio for agricultural products. Another unfavourable peculiarity of price liberalization is that it is applied under the conditions of a lack of market competition. In this period, no basic institutional conditions for functioning market have been presented in the country. In a short-term plan, the market response is only toward a price increase, without expanding or improving production. The lack of complete price liberalization thus led to the introduction of the so-called "expected price system", modified in 1993 into a "price ceiling system", as together with the imposition of different restrictions and regulations including: registration, licensing, temporary export bans, quantitative export restrictions, export and import fees and levies, as well as import tax exemption and, in some cases, the application of minimum export prices.

The development of the economic framework at farm level

Land market

The existence of an efficient land market in Bulgaria is closely connected with the restoration of the macroeconomic stability of the country and the course of land reform implementation. The delayed course in land reform, related to the restoration of land property rights, is the main reason for the absence of a land market in the country. According to a number of researchers, private farming development in Bulgaria depends, to a great extent, on the land leasing rather than on the market for land selling or purchase. The main arguments supporting this conclusion are the following: inflation as a factor compelling landholders to keep their land; the costs of land transactions are higher than those of land property restoration. Newly created farms do not want to rent small and scattered plots due to higher costs and lower efficiency in the use of resources.

Though the Government should not affect and control the land market, nevertheless needs a strategy for managing this process. This necessitates the speeding up of the legal basis established to manage the process of land transactions.

The development of input and output prices

Comparisons made between the dynamics of input and output prices in the agricultural production system have shown a disturbed parity. The rate of increase in prices for the factors of production is many higher than that for prices received for the goods produced in agriculture.

Analyses made on input and output prices have proved, similarly to import-export restrictions, that the fall in production which occurred in the period of transition is due to price policy, the short-term effect of land property changes, and the economic structure of the sector as a whole.

THE IMPACT OF AGRICULTURE ON THE ENVIRONMENT

Environmental degradation caused by agriculture

Agricultural production is realized in the open, using all natural resources - soil, terrain, water, climate, the biological productive potential of crops and farm animal breeds. For that reason, agriculture is directly affected by all negative changes occurring in environmental conditions. On the other hand, the violation of the requirements and standards for ecologically sound practices could also exert a direct and negative effect on the environment.

In the period of the centralized planned economy, the main purpose of the state in terms of agriculture was to obtain quantitatively the maximum amount of plant and animal products. To this end, technologies required the application, of thousands of tonnes of mineral fertilizers and plant protection pesticides on a national scale. Their incorrect and intensive application exerted a strong negative effect on soil, water, plant and animal production. The control of the residual amounts of nitrates, nitrites, ammonium ions and pesticides in soil and water was of episodic nature: it was conducted only in "hot spots"; not systematically and regularly, hence the reason for its low efficiency.

Agriculture and soil protection

Plant and animal production

The Crop Production subsector affects the soil in several ways:

1. Intensive mineral fertilization leads to soil acidification. Especially sensitive and susceptible to that phenomenon are soils with lower buffer capacity. According to the soil balance of Bulgaria for 1985, the acid soil area was 477.5 hectares, (Table 2). According to the data of the Ministerial Council for 1994, around 1 500 thousand hectares, or 32.4 percent of the cultivated lands, suffered from increased soil acidity due to the excessive use of mineral fertilizers. Of these, 460 thousand hectares (30.7 percent) showed a harmful-to-plants acidity, and 630 thousand hectares (42 percent) had moderately acidified soils. Soil acidification is observed almost everywhere in the plain regions of the country, where agricultural crops are produced leader in this respect is the region of Plovdiv, where the situation is especially serious and disturbing. A harmful soil acidity is present in 41 percent of the area, while another 11.2 percent of the cultivated lands is endangered acidification. Second place in terms of harmful soil acidity (17.4 percent of the areas) is occupied by the region of Lovech. No favourable tendency is observed in other regions of the country either, where the areas endangered by acidification occupy significant parts of the cultivated lands - the region of Burgas (19.3 percent), the region of Sofia (17.6 percent), and that of Haskovo (12.3 percent). After 1994, the acidification rates in the cultivated lands decreased sharply, which is directly related to the reduced amounts of mineral fertilizers applied due to economic reasons (Table 3). Fertilizer prices increased drastically. According to our investigations, the prices of mineral fertilizers from 1994 to 1997 rose 10.5 times, which reduced their use and retained the processes of soil acidification. Against the background of the high percentage of land with harmful-to-plants soil acidity, the measures undertaken for its normalization through liming have just a symbolic significance. The areas limed in 1994 are only 1.7 percent of those limed in 1989, which means, in our opinion, that at this stage the situation remains serious and disturbing.

2. Defective irrigation systems, non-standard irrigation and excess watering, led to a secondary salinization and irrigation erosion of cultivated lands. At the national level, the salinized areas amount for 28-30 thousand hectares, and another 40 thousand hectares are potentially salinized (Table 2). These are mainly found in the regions of Burgas - 60 percent, Lovech - 22 percent, and Plovdiv - 13.3 percent.

3. Intensive pesticide use in crop production at inadequate rates of application and bad storage contributes to the increase of their amounts in soils above the maximum permissible concentrations. Pesticide pollution of soils is usually of a local and incidental nature. According to data produced the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Agrarian Reform for 1994, the highest soil pollution is registered in the region of Blagoevgrad where 12.7 kg/ha were used, followed by the regions of Pazardzik and Sliven with 10 kg/ha. In the region of Sliven, the amounts of herbicides used per head of population reached 6 kg/capita. In separate sites - Uzundzovo (the region of Haskovo), Komatevo (the region of Plovdiv), Pomorie (the region of Burgas), concentrations of the banned chloro-organic insecticides - isomers and metabolites of DDT (hexachloran, heptachlor, aldrin, dieldrin and edrine) exceeding the maximum permissible levels were registered. In 1994, 1 666 tonnes of fungicides, 4.5 tonnes of insecticides and 5 363 tonnes of herbicides were imported into the country. The total amount of plant protection materials imported and used in plant production over the period 1992-1995 was in the range of 5 001-6 456 tonnes, this decreasing sharply in 1996 to 3 282 tonnes (Table 3). The reduction in the total amount of chemical materials is due to their unafordable prices. Their increase in 1997 was almost 9 times over those of 1994. In spite of the positive tendency towards a decrease in the use of chemicals, the risk of soil pollution remains at a rather high level. Sporadic copper contaminations of vineyard soils were registered due to the long-term application of copper-containing pesticides. The investigations made by Balinova for the period 1994-1996 in the areas around pesticide storehouses and the sites for their solution preparation, showed high concentrations exceeding the maximum permissible levels of 2,4-D, DDE, DDT, Atrazine, Alachlor, etc. in Kostinbrod, Aldimirovtsi, Vakarel, Ihtiman, Bozhurishte - the region of Sofia. According to the same author, soil contamination with pesticides near their storehouses presents a risk source and potential pollutant for ground waters. Since 1995, over 2 700 tonnes of banned preparations have been stored in about 500 storehouses throughout the country. With land privatization and the liquidation of the old structures, the problem of pesticide storage, protection and controlled application arose, as well as their destruction when they were no longer fit to be used. Cases were registered where outdated chemical preparations were removed from their original packaging and offered for sale. Not all amounts of the outdated pesticides were destroyed. This creates a risk situation for thefts and fires with very serious and unforeseen consequences for people's health. According to the requirements of the Civil Protection services, at this stage our country has not yet the necessary special equipment for the burning and destruction of pesticides without damaging people's health.

4. Animal husbandry also contributes to soil and water pollution through farmyard and liquid manure. Not all animal farms store their farmyard and liquid manure adequately according to the respective normative requirements. With agrarian reform and land privatization, the total number of farm animals in the country sharply decreased, which contributed to the improvement of the general ecological situation (Table 4). A large part of the animal breeding farms and complexes were liquidated, which contributed to the decrease in environmental pollution. Of those remaining near the bigger towns, not all follow the legal environment protection requirements. Though paying the requisite fines for doing so, them nevertheless continue to pollute canals, small rivers, and micro dam-lakes with effluents. In the villages, after land restitution and the increase of farm animal numbers, the farmers utilize their farmyard manure for manuring their land much better without causing any serious environmental damage.

Factors affecting productivity and sustainability at farm level

The factors exerting negative effects on the productivity of farms are various. We shall treat only the most important of them, which are significant for increased farm productivity:

1. The main factors which directly exert a negative impact on soil fertilization are acidification and salinization, although they have a limited impact on the total land area.

2. The main factors which have indirect negative effects on soil fertilization are related to the application of the agricultural system.

• The financial capacity of the new farmers is severely limited. They are not able to purchase the necessary crop production resources, such as: seeds, fertilizers, plant protection materials, machines and farm equipment, storehouses, as well as paying the fees for water. The animal breeders cannot buy purebreed productive and reproductive animals, fodders and the necessary equipment.
  
  
• The machines obtained after the distribution of former cooperative property are obsolete, thus a lot of money is required for their maintenance and use. At this stage, the purchase of new machines and equipment by farmers is almost impossible because of their high prices and the lack of available funds. Bank credits are unacceptable for farmers because of their unfavourable interest rates.
  
  
• Most of the landholders have not got the necessary professional qualifications and production experience for the organization and management of agriculture, which negatively reflects in the economic results obtained from their new operations.
  
• Some of the landholders live in towns, sometimes at a distance of more than 150-300 km from their agricultural land. They also have other professions and incomes and do not rely on the profit gained from using their land. Usually they offer it to rent at a low payment or leave it uncultivated. Some of the landholders, living in the villages, have neither the necessary qualifications nor the professional experience in agriculture and do not apply the required agronomic system of land cultivation and soil protection.
  
  
• In the period of transition to a market economy, through banks the state has been providing credit for agricultural producers to conduct their sowing and harvesting campaigns for cereals and some other crops against part of their production at low prices or against a project of their future activities, submitted to and approved by the bank authorities. These forms of financial support were not well received by the farmers. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Agrarian Reform created a specialized "Agriculture" fund for crediting farm producers under comparatively favourable terms. Because of the liberalized market prices, which are close to or actually under the cost of production, many of the producers do not use it. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Agrarian Reform does not subsidize agricultural production, not even grain which is of a strategic importance for the country.
  
  
• As a result of political and economic changes, Bulgaria lost its former position within the international markets in Europe and the ex-Soviet Union republics, particularly in Russia, and this affected negatively the volume and structure of agricultural production. The new EU's export quotas for Bulgarian agricultural products are quite insufficient to stimulate this production. These factors reflect negatively on the financial possibilities of the producers.

All the above-mentioned factors adversely affect soil fertilization and the stabilization of agricultural production in the country.

Agriculture and water protection

Plant and animal production

According to Iliev and Naidenov, using data from the Ministry of the Environment for 1989-1990, the irrigated areas in Bulgaria are around 1 185 thousand hectares, and the total amount of irrigation water is 2.8 billion m³. The use of water in agriculture decreased by about 40 percent in 1992 to 725 354 thousand m³, of which fresh water accounts for 718 704 thousand m³. With agricultural land privatization, the water supply of the sector was reduced to 145 697 thousand m³ in 1996 as compared to that in 1992 (19.9 percent), of which 97 725 thousand m³ (67.1 percent) are used for the irrigation of crops and 47 972 thousand m³ (32.9 percent) for animal husbandry. Compared to water use in 1989 in 1996 only 5 percent of this total. Of the fresh water used in agriculture in 1996 (142 868 thousand m³ ), 31 950 thousand m³ (22.4 percent) were polluted, of which 19 929 thousand m³ (62.4 percent) flowed into rivers without being purified. The sharp reduction in the water supply to agriculture decreased the extent of water resource pollution. Despite this, the pollution of ground and surface waters with nitrates, nitrites, ammonium ions and pesticides continues, though at lower rates, as a result of the intensive and incorrect application of mineral fertilizers and plant protection chemicals. From the sites around pesticide storehouses, with high contents of nitrogen compounds and pesticides in the soil, through the water flow from rains and irrigation, they pass into the ground water, and then into the surface water. Although only episodically, the surface water of canals and small streams is also polluted by chemicals from the washing and cleaning of plant protection machines. As we have already mentioned, in the soil section not all of the large animal breeding farms left after privatization have at their disposal special waste water pits, and thus directly pollute the soil, water and air in the region.

Factors affecting productivity and sustainability at farm level

In connection with the use of water in agriculture, the main factors negatively affecting the productivity of crops and animals, thus decreasing arm effectiveness, are:

1. The last 10-15 years were characterized by dry spells in spring and summer. The rainfalls were about 40-50 percent less than the normal, their distribution being extremely unfavourable during the crop growth period, and thus not coinciding with their maximum water requirements. Crop production became completely dependent on precipitation amounts and the possibilities for irrigation.

2. The process of privatization has not yet been completed and the land has not been returned to its owners.

3. Irrigation equipment and pumping stations are completely destroyed. Their restoration and refunctioning is at the expense of water users, which was led to a 220 times increase in the price of irrigation water and the compulsory fees for irrigated areas.

High prices and financial difficulties have made a significant part of water users give up irrigating their crops and start growing unirrigated crops on the former irrigated areas for several years.

Agriculture and air protection

If compared to the other economic sectors - energetics, chemical and petro-chemical industries, metallurgy and transport - the level of air pollution caused by agriculture is extremely low. It is of a local and most often seasonal character and it is realized by the performance of agricultural machines in the field and by the small processing enterprises and greenhouses using black oil. Because of the high sulphur content in the black oil, they pollute air through emissions of sulphur, nitrogen and carbon oxides. The air is more seriously polluted by ammonium and nitrogen oxides from farmyard manure, stored around the animal breeding farms. Wood-processing by farm cooperatives also contributes to the dust pollution of air. Air pollution results, although of an episodic nature, from the burning of stubble after cereal harvesting - a harmful practice which has become very common in recent years. Methane emissions from rice fields proved to be more serious air pollutants, but they were sharply reduced after land privatization because of destroyed irrigation facilities and the high water prices.

The agriculture and its impact on landscape

During the period of socialist agriculture, all land was cultivated on a large scale with various annual field crops, orchards, vineyards, and roads, where irrigation systems as well as storehouses for products and machines were built. With land privatization; the coming into force of the new plans for land redistribution in the plain regions, the landscape is constantly changing. The large stands of orchards and vineyards are gradually disappearing and being replaced with annual field crops. The irrigated fields and the systems for surface and ground irrigation have been destroyed. New roads, canal networks, small-sized orchards and vineyards, field houses and drilled wells are now being created. A large part of the areas remain uncultivated and severely weed-infested, which makes the plain regions ugly. In the semi-mountainous, and especially the mountainous regions, the changes in the landscape are comparatively smaller. Here, the arable land was not allotted on a large scale because of the unsuitable terrain, which is mainly under meadows and pastures.

Agriculture and biodiversity

Taking into consideration the importance of biodiversity issues in the country, as early as 1934 Bulgaria declared the first national park on the Balkan Peninsula, "Vitosha", putting it under legal protection. In 1985, the number of national parks declared in the country was 10 with a total area of 57 980 hectares, plus 85 reserves, of which 17 are recognized by UNESCO as unique "biospheric" and registered in the Red Book for biospheric reserves on the planet. In 1996, the number of national parks in Bulgaria was already 12 with a 351 584 hectare area, 90 reserves comprising 85 562 hectares, and 2 234 natural sights with 23 408 hectares. Besides them, single trees of various species which are 1 000 to 1 600 years old are under legal protection, witness the foundation and the 1 300-year history of the Bulgarian state. Complex and systemic ecological research is being conducted in these reserves, the data for which is being used as a background base for ecological biospheric monitoring, and the control and forecasting of biospheric pollution. There is a great biodiversity of medicinal plants, but the annual export quantities of herbs and forest fruits abroad, their wrong harvesting practices, and predatory attitude towards them, threaten the survival of a great number of plant species in the country. Of the Bulgarian flora and fauna, 389 plant species and 473 animal species have been protected by law. The Institute for Plant Genetic Resources with a genebank in the town of Sadovo was founded in 1977 to collect, study and store the diversity of local and introduced crops and wild plant species.

Effects of environmental degradation on agriculture

The degraded environment, for its part, leads to the exhaustion of natural resources and exerts a strong effect on all branches of the economy, including agriculture. This effect is most strongly expressed in the decrease of arable land and the deterioration of soil fertility, which in turn has a negative impact on food supplies. The agricultural land resources of Bulgaria are given in Table 1. The data shows that the size of lands in agriculture is generally remained unchanged for the period 1985-1997. A slight increase in arable land has taken place, but at the expense of grasslands and pastures. Small changes are registered in the separate land categories (by mode of use), the greatest decrease being established in the artificial pastures and meadows. Of a total cultivated area of 4 652.9 thousand hectares for 1985, deteriorated lands are 824.4 thousand hectares (17.4 percent), the heavy metal contaminated ones 41.1 thousand hectares (0.9 percent), and the degraded lands 1 752.6 thousand hectares (37.7 percent).

The heavy metal polluted lands are situated in the industrial, mainly mining and metallurgical regions of the country. The degraded lands also represent a big share of the arable area: 1 752.6 thousand hectares (37.7 percent), of which 20.9 percent are eroded, 20.3 percent acidified and 0.6 percent salinized lands (Table 2). Although for 1985 the data show that the process of arable land reduction and its quality deterioration is still in progress. Though at lower rates, pollution with wastes from energetics, chemical, mining, metallurgical and construction industries, as well as everyday refuse, affect negatively the ecological situation, which deepens the ecological crisis in the country. They affect negatively not only the amount and quality of agricultural lands, but also pollute the surface and underground waters in the country.

Bulgaria is deficient in water resources. The surface water flow of the rivers on the territory of the country, together with the underground waters undrained therein, amount, according to data collected over a long period of time, to 20.16 billion m³ per year. The precipitation on the territory of the country is about 75.2 billion m³ water, of which around 20 billion m³ evaporates, hence the actual annual surface water flow is 55 billion m³. In different seasons, it varies greatly. Taking into consideration big differences in relief heights and the flow rate, we come to the conclusion that around 22 to 57 percent of that water mass is collected and stored in approximately 2 200 dam lakes and water catchments. The total volume of the water in dam lakes amounts to about 7.3 billion m³, which is approximately equal to the annual water use by people, industry and agriculture. Approximately 37 percent of the total used water of the average annual flow of rivers runs off unpurified.

The situation concerning water used for everyday life is better. The percentage of water treated by mechanical and biological processes is about 60 percent. In the region of the oil-processing enterprises, both soils and waters are severely polluted with oil products, which are difficult to purify. According to Iliev and Naidenov, almost all of our rivers are polluted in their lower courses as a result of industrial enterprises. Practically, they are not fit to be used for economic purposes. The Danube, which catches its waters from Central and South-Eastern Europe, is highly polluted in our section. It, and the other smaller rivers emptying into the Black Sea, import thousands of tonnes of wastes, including organic and inorganic products, nitrates, nitrites, pesticides, etc. The Black Sea is on the verge of an ecological catastrophe because of the accumulation of hydrogen sulphide, which is the reason for the high rates of decrease in the number of fish species and other marine animals.

Each year, energetics and industry emit hundreds of tonnes of gases - nitrogen, sulphur, carbon oxides, methane, ammonia, non-methane compounds and dust, into the atmosphere, thus polluting the environment (Table 5). With the emissions of the ore-processing and metallurgical industries, besides gases and dust, significant amounts of heavy metals - zinc, cadmium, lead, iron, copper, cobalt, manganese, nickel, etc. - are also emitted into the environment in the direction of the predominant winds. These fall directly on soil, open water areas, field vegetation and agricultural crops. Through the soil, their water soluble compounds fall into agricultural products and the underground waters. Copper mines and enterprises cause additional soil and water pollution with arsenic. Polluted air, water and soils exert a direct or indirect effect on human health. A direct correlation has been established between the rates of respiratory diseases in people and the air pollution in industrial regions, as well as the cancer rates in heavy-metal polluted regions. For these reasons, part of the population moves to other regions in the country enjoying a better ecological state.

THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIETY ON THE AGRICULTURAL ENVIRONMENT

Institutional change within the environmental policy

Agrarian reform in Bulgaria has necessitated the occurrence of some functional changes in the responsibilities, rights and obligations of the different governmental and non-governmental institutions concerned with, and influencing the changes in, agricultural development and environmental protection. The management, control and protection of the environment, natural resources and biological diversity in the country is under the by the Ministry of Environment and Waters (MEW). As a competent organ of the executive, this ministry implements governmental policy in the field of environmental protection and the ecologically sound use of natural resources. The authorities of the ministry are regulated by the Law of Environmental Protection, Law of Natural Protection, Law of Air, Water and Soil Protection against Pollution, Law of Arable Land and Pasture Protection, Law of Waters, etc., including over 60 decrees and regulations. MEW assumes all international responsibilities for the country proceeding from international multilateral and bilateral conventions, contracts and agreements on environment, natural resource and biological diversity. MEW has a two-level structure. The first level is the Central Administration with 16 Regional Environment Inspections (REI). The second level is the National Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development, working on the scientific development and implementation in the field of ecological monitoring. The development of a legislature adequate for the changing socio-economic situation in the country pre-determines the changes occurring within the separate departments. Intra-department reorganization has been, directed towards an institutional development, inconformity with the formulated priorities and policies, as well as toward the creation of economic and normative instruments for their control and implementation. Gradually, the focus is being moved from measuring environmental parameters to the estimation of the efficiency of the applied policies and invested funds for environmental protection, to inspecting the self-control and monitoring of the economic subjects under the regime of permission and to the support of environment parameters and life quality. In this connection, the Government has also sanctioned some measures designed to stabilize environmental policy. Their realization depends on the actualization of the Bulgarian Environment Strategy¹⁹.

The Republic of Bulgaria has signed the documents of the two international conventions the International Convention on Gas Emissions in Atmosphere and the International Convention on Biological Diversity. How the Government realizes its programme for environmental protection is seen in the data in Table 6. The cost structure by items for the period 1992-1996 confirms that the Government allocates funds for the restoration of the damage done to nature, increases its long-term assets related to environmental protection, and conducts research activities to find suitable solutions to ecological problems and biodiversity conservation. In other words, it discharges the duties of the country to the international institutions, and realizes its programme in all directions. The legislative activities of the Government are directed to the development of the necessary normative acts for regulating and settling the relations among all institutions concerned with environmental protection and biodiversity conservation in the country, i.e.: state, cooperative and private. In addition to this, the principle objective and task of the Government is the development of Bulgarian standards on environmental protection; achieving the same status as those of the EU countries.

The regional bodies, conducting ecological policies, should also undergo some changes. The increasing volume of activities, corresponding to their extending functions as well as their technical re-equipment, necessitates the specification of their structures with a view to increasing the effectiveness of their work as local control.

The institutional stabilization of ecological policy and the creation and development of structures for an efficient realization of priorities requires close coordination between the responsible institutions and their activities. The delayed process of structural agrarian reform makes it still more necessary for the creation of new-type institutional structures and their rational interaction. For the specificity of the transition from a centrally planned to institutional structure, all elements of the institution-structural and production-structural changes and the related organizational-legal and economic measures, should be considered as interrelated and interdependent. For the moment, this approach is not being applied mainly due to subjective reasons. The more important reasons are of an organizational nature, related to the fragmentation of the political and the other institutional structures - the lack of a thorough scientific concept for the institutional structure and the mechanisms of its macro-level functioning; the elements of this structure are formed separately, both by scope and time, and not interrelated; inadequate coordination of those developed economic laws regulating the mechanisms for the functioning of institutions and market subjects. In a number of cases, these laws are directly taken from other countries, without considering the actual economic and other conditions of the country; greater attention is given to the legislative and institutional elements of the restructuring and less to its application to the productional and infrastructural restructuring of the branch. The state's withdrawal from productional and infrastructural restructuring can lead to long-term negative consequences. Ultimately, the effective realization of ecological policy, the abiding by the principle of shared responsibility between ministries, economic enterprises and the public for the environmental situation, and protection in the country depends entirely on these relations.

Environmental policy related to agriculture

The legislative and institutional framework for a national agri-environmental policy

Since 1991, the new normative system of environmental legislation has been initiated in the country: setting the objectives, strategies and common normative requirements of the state ecological policy, as well as the responsibilities of the institutions. An operative normative system is based on three main principles: "the pollutant pays", "prevention and protection from the pollution", "society has rights to information". Intensive work has been carried out toward the establishment and improvement of a system of ecological and natural protection legislation through the elaboration and confirmatiom of laws and standards, standards for the maximum permissible concentrations of the pollutants of the environment, harmonized with international approved system. Existing laws have been added and these new laws and sublaw acts passed related to the protection of environment are as follows: Environmental Law, Law for the transformation and privatization of state and municipal enterprises, Law for air, Law for protection of medical crops, Law of biodiversity, Laws of Forestry, Waters, Mineral wealth, etc. The elaboration of various standards for the maximum permissible concentrations for soil pollution and agricultural production is assigned to research teams as projects and pilot ecological farms. Although intensive work has been carried out on the development of ecological policy and the improvement of ecological legislation, its efficiency is not high, and this is determined by several factors:

1. At times delays in the examination and passing of draft laws for environmental protection;

2. A lack of coordination and contradictions between institutions taking part in the development of the drafts for normative acts;

3. A lack of specialists on ecology in the Ministry of Environment and Waters and, due to financial reasons, a lack of highly skilled external experts.

Laws and directives on the use of inputs

The main objective of state regulation through laws and directives is to put restrictions on environmental pollution by stimulating the reproduction of environmental elements and environment-protection activities. The principal normative act, regulating the character and quality of the resources invested in agricultural production, is the Law for Land Ownership and Use and the regulations for its application. The regulations of the act state that all landholders and users should observe the sanitary-hygienic and ecological standards when managing their lands, by protecting them from erosion, waterlogging, and salinization and increasing soil fertility; the water they should use must be free of noxious substances and wastes over the maximum permissible levels.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Agrarian Reform and the Ministry of Environment and Waters periodically elaborate and approve lists and reference books for the use and storage of permitted pesticides in agriculture. The standards and the methods of application are within them. Through the divisions of the Ministry of Environment and Waters, the regurous control of banned chemicals is fulfilled and sanctions are imposed on those infringing them.

Laws and directives on the protection of natural resources in agriculture

The main laws dealing with the issues of natural resource protection are: the Constitution, defining land as a main national wealth, put under the protection of state and society. Arable land is used only for agricultural purposes. Change in its use is admitted only as an exception, regulated by law. The main normative act for environmental protection is the Environmental Law, passed in 1991 and changed and supplemented in 1995. It regulates the principles of collecting information on the state of the environment, and its dissemination. It defines the rights and obligations of institutions and individuals concerning environmental protection, as well as the respective control and measures. Air protection is regulated by five laws and decrees. The protection of land and soil is regulated by 22 laws, decrees and instructions. The protection and rational use of forests and protected natural sites is regulated by nine laws, decrees and tariffs. The protection and rational use of flora and fauna is controlled by nine laws, decrees, and regulations. Water protection and its rational use is regulated by 31 laws, ordinances, instructions, and government decrees. The Law of Air, Water and Soil Protection, including the regulations for its application, appears to be an important law for natural resource preservation by protecting air, water, and soil from pollution. Decree No. One for the assessment of environmental impacts, develops further the formulations of the Environmental Law. The Law for Land Ownership and Use regulates the restitution of land to its former owners in ecologically polluted regions. The Council of Ministers defines ecologically polluted farm lands, as well as the mode of their restoration. According to this law, all the expenses for the ecological restoration of polluted lands are undertaken by the state.

National measures on the promotion of ecologically sound agricultural practices

The national indicators for estimating the public response to the strategy and realization of the ecological policy of state, government and department institutions on the environment and agriculture protection, are ultimately reduced to whether people approve and support them or not. The ecological policy consolidates the legislative and executive activities, the funds, the structure of costs, the mode of their use, the effect of the conducted policy, and the control and the sanctions applied. All these activities are discussed in sections 4.1 to 4.2, inclusive. We should note that all of them are popular subjects open to discussion and consideration through out the mass media - television, radio and press where people can give their opinion. On the other hand, all state institutions concerned with environmental protection, publish in monthly bulletins and annual reference books information on the current state of the environment and agriculture and these are available to both specialists and individuals showing an interest in the matter alike. In our opinion, it is necessary to increase research activities in agriculture, especially those related to education, with a view to training workers - producers able to implement scientific achievements in ecologically sound and organic farming.

The importance of national environmental associations and organizations to environmental policy

The "Green face" of civil society organizations

In the process of environmental management, the search for suitable forms and means of attracting the member of society is of increasing importance. The hope is to improve the knowledge of the population on the current state of and risks to the environment, to enable people and their associations in the process of discussion and decision making on specific activities or local projects concerned with the environment, and to educate young people and adults alike in high ecological culture and an adequate attitude to the environment. In this respect, sociological surveys are conducted in the country within the framework of different projects and international programmes, such as the "Investigation of Environmental Protection Issues". To provide access to information on the matter, periodical bulletins (weekly and quarterly) on the current state of the environment and the sources of its pollution are published in the country and made available to its citizens and non-governmental organizations. This information policy, however, has not yet provided the expected results, as only a small percentage of citizens and the mass media have shown an interest in it. Work on the ecological education of young people is considered as not yet being effective enough either. A lot of the planned public campaigns, e.g. "Ecology in the Bulgarian Home", were not realized for both organizational reasons and a lack of funds. The organization of optional training of students in ecology (competitions, circles, Olympiads, brigades, expeditions) is unsystematic and episodic. Work with the mass media, as powerful instruments for the formation of public attitude and a civic position on problems relating to environmental protection and the conservation of natural resources and biological diversity in the country, is reported to have been ineffective.

The importance of private and non-profit organizations

The process of restructuring Bulgarian agriculture is accompanied by the creation of new non-governmental agricultural structures, which are more or less concerned with the problems of environmental protection and the defence of the producers' interests under the new economic and political conditions. So far, 44 branch unions have been created. More important non-governmental organizations considering environmental protection are the Association of Organic Farming "Ecofarm" and the National Consultative Council of Organic Farming. All non-governmental organizations have direct contact between growers and manufacturing enterprises. Thus, the necessary horizontal and vertical relations in the branch are achieved, which affects the type, volume and quality of agricultural products. These non-governmental organizations are considered very important as organized associations and public correctives for the effectiveness of the conducted ecological policy. The weak points in ecological legislation, as well as the prevention of environmental pollution, necessitate close public control. Its effectiveness demands the application of preliminary, current and consequent control. Suitable forms of public control organizations are, firstly, an independent control network of non-governmental ecological organizations seeking to prevent the occurrence of new ecologically threatened regions. In cases of unsatisfactory responses, they undertake specific campaigns (protest letters, subscription lists, meetings, live chains, etc.) to stop activities on the site. Secondly, the formation of initiative groups of citizens to participate actively in the public discussion of ecological problems and to initiate different measures for eliminating the negative impact on the environment. Thirdly, the conducting of referenda with a decisive role in the restraining or closing of the sites of pollution.

CONCLUSIONS

On the basis of the present environmental situation in agriculture in Bulgaria, the following more important conclusions from economic, legal, social and institutional points of views can be drawn:

1. Privatization as a key element of agrarian structural reform can contribute to the ecological state of agriculture on condition that this process is accompanied by an effective agrarian policy and working laws. The restitution of land property rights and the restructuring of the agricultural sector do not mean an immediate change in the attitude of farmers to and their motivation for, the application of ecologically sound methods of production. It is logical to assume that the economic interests of the owner will direct him to preserve soil fertility, to observe the ecological, nature-protective and sanitary-hygienic standards for the production of quality products. It is wrong to expect, however, that this change in the attitude to natural resources will occur automatically. Efforts should be taken by the Government to lay the foundations of sustainable farming and practical working ecological legislation through the development of suitable mechanisms.

2. The delayed course of agrarian structural reform in the country extended the period of transition, which affected negatively the rates of agricultural development. In the period of transition, the rates of soil, water and air pollution sharply decreased, mainly as a result of a production decrease due chiefly to financial and economic reasons and less to the effect of increased environment protection control by the government and non-governmental organizations. Irrespective of this, with the funds allotted by the state a high level of state and public control on the ecological situation has been achieved. Besides preventive measures, a more effective relationship between the damages caused and the sanctions imposed should be found for the realization of more effective pollution control. In terms of the conservation of biological diversity, the country is conducting active research activities for the better conservation and study of rare species in country`s flora and fauna, as well as those which are threatened with extinction.

3. As a result of unfavourable political and macroeconomic conditions and ineffective government policy on behalf of the executive, the process of institutional, productional and infrastructural restructuring of the sector was delayed. Agrarian structural reform can allow no delay, especially in its institutional sector, if the speeding up of the process of land restitution and the creation of economically viable farms is to be accomplished. Environmental policy should be built into the institutional, structural and infrastructural changes. In this respect, the role of ecological legislation is of great importance.

4. The laws on environmental protection should be supported by the whole of society. Without this support, their function will not be effective.

5. The capacities of sustainable and ecologically sound development can be increased by extending research, training, education and extension activities. In perspective, the training of executive staffs, producers and future farmers should put into practice the achievements of ecological science for the realization of sustainable development is the only alternative.

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TABLES

Table 1: Cultivated land in Bulgaria and on private farms /1990-1997/

Source: Annual yearbook of Bulgaria 1998

*In the indicated source-"Private farms" include private farms and cooperatives land

**n.a -Not available.

Table 2: Deteriorated, polluted and degraded soils in the Republic of Bulgaria /1985/

Table 3: Consumption of fertilizers and pesticides

*Without private farms

Source: Annual yearbook of Bulgaria 1998

Table 4: Livestock numbers /thousand heads per 1^st January/

Source: Annual yearbook of Bulgaria 1998

Table 5: Emission of contaminants into atmosphere /thousand tonnes/

*Included data for contaminants from road transport, agriculture and househols

Source: Annual yearbook of Bulgaria 1998

Table 6: Expenditure on protection of the environment by use /million Levs/

*For rows 13, 14 and 15: 1994=100;

Source: Annual yearbook of Bulgaria 1998

19 The strategy and the programme of the Government for improving the ecological situation in the country were given in the national report, read by the President of the Republic of Bulgaria at the UN Conference on Environment and Development "Brazil 1992". The report is grounded on the four principle priorities of our time - security, democracy, ecology and economy, formulated by Gro Harlem Bruntland from Norway in the paper of the International Commission of Environment and Development "Our Common Future" (1987).