ISHS Acta Horticulturae 577: VII International Symposium on Plum and Prune Genetics, Breeding and Pomology
PLUM PRODUCTION IN BULGARIA |
| Authors: | V. Djouvinov, I. Vitanova |
| Keywords: | plum area, plum production, plum regions, cultivars, export |
| Abstract:
Bulgaria is situated in the South-Eastern part of the Balkan peninsula, between 41° and 44° northern latitude and 22° and 28° eastern longitude. It has a territory of 111000 sq. km and a mean elevation of 470 m above the sea level. About 30 % of the territory is occupied by plains up to 200 m high, the hilly areas of 200 – 600 m above the sea level being almost 40 % . The climate is temperate continental, the mean annual temperatures are 10,6° – 12,10°C in the major fruit-producing regions. The mean annual precipitation sum is 474-855 mm and the relative air humidity is 69-77 %. The period without frosts lasts for 190-215 days, i.e. from 15-25 April until 5-15 November. As a fruit species plum ranks the second after apple by established orchards and by production. The basic plum producer is the Central Balkan Mountains region, i.e. the region of Lovech – Gabrovo, situated at 300-700 m above the sea level. The second important producer is the region of Sredna Gora Mountains, including: Panagyurishte – Pazardjik – Karlovo,. to the north and north-west of Plovdiv. Third comes Eastern Balkan Mountains,. the region of Shumen – Targovishte. Since 1897 the areas of plum orchards, spreading then on 3100 ha, have been constantly increasing, reaching 53300 ha in 1965. During the period of intensification in fruit production these areas decreased, being 17700 ha in 1986/90. After the political and economic changes in 1989 the areas continued to decrease and in 1999 only 13400 ha remained. In the years mentioned, plum production from 25 thousand tons reached the maximum of 334 thousand tons in 1970, then gradually declining to 124 thousand tons in 1986/90 and only 66 thousand tons in 1999. Before the World War II and after the major cultivar was ‘Kyustendilska sinya’, which until 1965 had occupied about 90 % of the plum orchards. After 1970 the areas planted with ‘Stanley’ cv. increased and became the basic cultivar after 1985, followed by ‘Strinava’, ‘Gabrovska’, ‘Cacanska lepotica’, etc. Plum export increased after 1930 when 3 thousand tons of fresh fruit and 224 tons of dried plums were exported, while in 1934 the quantities of exported dried plums reached 756 tons. During the period 1981-90 between 2350 and 15870 tons were annually exported, while for the period 1995-97 about 1500 – 2000 tons of mainly fresh fruit were exported. Under the new economic conditions plum production in our country is going to be restored by transferring to integrated fruit production. | |
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