Methodological approaches for determining the soil indicators for defining the agricultural regions in Bulgaria with natural constraints other than the mountainous

Svetla Rousseva, Milena Kercheva, Toma Shishkov, Veneta Krasteva, Vihra Stoinova, Nevena Miteva, Biser Hristov, Diana Nekova, Ivanka Lyubenova, Milena Mitova

Abstract: Farms in mountainous areas and other areas with significant natural constraints are disadvantaged as they have lower productivity and higher production costs. The CAP provides specific additional support for farmers in these areas. In order to ensure the efficient use of EU funds and the equal treatment of farmers throughout the Union, mountainous areas and areas with natural or other specific constraints shall be determined in accordance with objective biophysical criteria for climate, soil and terrain supported by credible scientific evidence.
The report presents in detail the methodological approaches applied to determine the biophysical criteria for soils and their fine-tuning, in accordance with Regulation 1305/2013, needed to define agricultural areas at LAU level in Bulgaria with natural constraints other than mountainous ones. The approaches are considered in detail to determine 9 soil indicators for characterization of objective biophysical criteria, such as insufficient drainage, unfavourable texture and stonyness, shallow rooting depth and poor chemical properties. The approaches applied are based on the available digital soil information from the large-scale soil surveys of ISSAPP “N. Pushkarov“ and guidelines for the application of common criteria for the identification of agricultural areas with natural constraints developed by the Joint Research Center of the European Commission.

Keywords: agricultural areas; Bulgaria; defining; fine-tuning; natural constraints; soil indicators

Date published: 2020-10-27