Historic decline: After 20 years, farmers sow wheat on less than 10 million decares

For the first time since 2006, Bulgarian farmers have sown less than 10 million decares with wheat, as the latest data from the Ministry of Agriculture show that in the 2025-2026 agricultural year, wheat in the country will be on 9.692 million decares. Almost as much was the area with wheat 20 years ago, just before Bulgaria joined the European Union, when 9.7 million decares were sown, according to the data of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. If we compare the sowing from this autumn with the data from the last decade, we will see that after 2018, the sector has always cultivated more than 12 million decares with wheat annually, with the exception of 2019, when it was slightly below this area. In contrast to the negative record for wheat after 2002, we are witnessing a steady trend of a slight increase in barley fields. Again, we go back 20 years, when the last record in the areas for this cereal crop was recorded in 2002 – with over 3.3 million decares. In the period from ...