There will be no corn harvest in Bulgaria this year

This year, due to extreme heat and prolonged drought, there will be no corn harvest in Bulgaria. Every additional degree of temperature condemns farmers in the Ruse region to a zero harvest. They do not expect compensation for their losses.

In the municipality of Slivo Pole, the corn has dried up and combines will not be able to enter the fields at all, says Stanimir Stanchev, who has been sowing grain for 13 years.

Stanimir Stanchev, farmer: “Right now, the cobs cannot be filled with quality grain. We also expect a minimal sunflower harvest, which means that we are accumulating serious losses for next year. But we cannot fight nature.”

The vagaries of the weather and the lack of irrigation infrastructure in the region are forcing farmers to look for alternative crops to survive.

Stanimir Stanchev, farmer: “We will not sow sunflowers, we will not sow corn, and what will we sow? Maybe photovoltaic systems? We are looking for alternatives – rapeseed, peas, but this takes time, resources and is not economically viable.”

Milena Koev has been growing milk thistle on 500 acres for several years now – a crop that is more resistant to the scorching sun and is in great demand in the pharmaceutical industry of Western Europe.

Milena Koev, farmer: “Milk thistle is extremely rich in selemaryn. It is used in 90% of cardiovascular medicines. We are considering it under contracts – you cannot grow it freely and wait for someone to take it from you. We have not yet reclaimed it, and I cannot say whether it will be profitable. But we have to take risks.”

The farmers do not believe that the additional 30 million leva allocated for irrigation will solve their problems. According to them, at least one billion euros are needed to modernize the existing infrastructure.

Tags: corn, drought, Bulgaria