1st Field Trip to Bulgaria

On the 30^th and 31^st of May the project partners gathered in Dobrich, Bulgaria for their first field trip for the observation of the selected crop models experiment. The leading partner Dobrudzha Agrarian and Business School was hosting the 2-days event attended by the Community of practice coordinators assigned at the project partners and project team members. On the first day of their visit the partners from Bulgaria, Turkey and Georgia presented their developed crop models and the progress they made in testing it as well as the next steps and expectations regarding the estimated results.

The presentations were followed by a field trip to the experimental fields of the Dobrudzha Agricultural Institute located near the city of General Toshevo where the participants were shown different types of cereal crops such as Triticale (which is also one of the selected for testing culture), Wheat, Rye, etc. and were presented with some information about the research and cultivation of new varieties sustainable to the changing climate conditions – drought, freezing and unfavorable weather in general.

On the second day the participants were taken to the Hot Farm in Strashimirovo, near Varna, for a presentation of the business model of a family farm specialized in growing over 70 different sorts of chili peppers and production of food products out of them. An interesting presentation on the methods of acclimatization of the varieties (originating from all over the world) to the local conditions in Bulgaria was made. The field trip continued with a visit to the Culinary Arts Institute at Varna University of Management, where chefs introduced the guests to the possibilities of utilizing the local agricultural production by smart management of the agro-food chain and focussing on the seasonality of the products. Finally, the visiting partners observed the DABS’ experimental field and closed the event with a joint discussion on the adjustment and transferability of the results.

The next field trip will be in Turkey in June 2022, where the hosting partner will demonstrate the applied in Tekirdag region models for walnuts and sunflower growing through CSA practices.