Barely insufficient: Only 6% of the irrigated areas in Bulgaria are actually irrigated.

Irrigation remains one of the most important challenges facing Bulgarian agriculture. Although the country has over 5.4 million decares of land suitable for irrigation, only about 6% of them are actually irrigated. What is the state of the hydro-ameliorative infrastructure, how many kilometers of canals have been repaired in recent years, and what projects are pending – "Irrigation Systems" JSC answers the questions of Agri.bg. See the first part of the answers. According to the latest balance of irrigation areas in Bulgaria from 2000, the irrigable areas amount to 5,417,794 decares. As of the irrigation season 2024, for which the data have been processed by "Irrigation Systems" JSC, water has been supplied to 334,562 decares. Of these, about 42% are areas planted with corn, about 35% with rice, about 8% with fruits and vegetables, about 3% are potato plantations, 2% are permanent crops. The remaining 10% are tobacco, vineyards, strawberries and raspberries, sunflower, alfalfa, ...