Agricultural landscapes development and its subsequent impact in terms of common agricultural policy – the case of South Western planning region in Bulgaria

Silvena Boteva, Anelia Kenarova, Rossen Tzonev and Valentin Bogoev
Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Faculty of Biology, Department of Ecology and Nature Protection, 8 Dragan Tsankov Blvd. 1164 Sofia, Bulgaria

Abstract

Boteva, S., Kenarova, A., Tzonev, R. & Bogoev, V. (2020). Agricultural landscapes development and its subsequent impact in terms of common agricultural policy – the case of South Western planning region in Bulgaria. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 26 (6), 1209–1216

The purpose of the current study is to analyze the impact of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) implementation in Southwestern planning region (SWPR) in the Republic of Bulgaria (BG). The analysis showed two opposite tendencies: decreasing of agricultural holdings number and increasing ofutilized agricultural area (UAA) per holding, whichisa clear indicator of land consolidation and UAA concentration in fewer agricultural holdings. Although results indicateddelay in this trend for Blagoevgrad District, this is a prerequisite foranextensive livestock production which allowsthe conservation and maintenance of pastures and meadows, henceimprovingthe provided ecosystem services and supporting biodiversity conservation.

Keywords: utilized agricultural area; ecological balance; grassland habitats; biodiversity conservation
Abbreviations: BG – Republic of Bulgaria; BPS – basic payment scheme; BMQAEC – Bulgarian monitoring questionnaire for agricultural and economic conjuncture; CAP – Common Agricultural Policy; EU – European Union; MAFF – Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry; SAPS – single area payment scheme; SWPR – South Western planning region; UAA – utilized agricultural area

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