Articles
THE PRESENT STATE AND TRENDS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF APRICOT-GROWING IN BULGARIA
The most favourable climatic conditions, however, are in Northeastern Bulgaria where 50% of all apricot orchards are concentrated and large industrial orchards from 200 ha to 1000 ha have been established.
Apricot-growing in Bulgaria is characterized by instability largely due to the biological peculiarities of this valuable orchard variety.
In many agro-industrial complexes the average yields are over 10,000–11,000 kg/ha but at a national scale the average yields vary from 3,000 kg to 5,500 kg/ha, whereas over a ten-year period the crop was very good on three occasions, average 4 times, low crop twice and once there was no crop at all.
The major reason for this is the repeated cold and the spring sleet which cause serious damage to the buds.
About 44% of the output is obtained on the private and subsidiary farms.
The realization of the apricot output is the following: 77% is processed into stewed fruit purees, dried apricots, jams, nectars, children’s foods and others, about 10% is for export as fresh fruits and 20% is for fresh consumption on the domestic market.
Though apricot-growing is economically profitable due to the application of a definite price policy, a substantially higher rate of profitability can be achieved mainly through the intensification of production.
Therefore, it is envisaged that apricot orchards should increase by 15% until 1990.
The existing variety structure is unfavourable as the