Rose farming is the crown jewel of the Bulgarian agricultural sector providing for a significant portion of the farmers in the country. The low bulk prices of rose flowers and lack of sufficient manpower, however, is becoming an increasingly severe problem for the niche this year.
Among the struggling rose farmers is Zornitsa Rancheva. In an interview for Iskra.bg she said:
“We ended up in a very difficult situation with no obvious way out. The problem predates the pandemic. About 3 years ago the bulk price of rose flowers was 3 Bulgarian levs per kilo and now is as low as 1,50 Bulgarian levs.”
Rancheva complained that farmers are also struggling with finding sufficient manpower. Ten acres of rose fields require about 7 workers. She manages over 200 acres and is having trouble finding the needed 70 workers as wages are low due to the low bulk prices.
“I need about 70 workers but I’m currently employing about 40. Many of them are bitterly disappointed with the wages and I can understand that. They have to go in the fields at 04:30 in the morning and they do that for about 20 Bulgarian levs per day given that a couple of years ago wages were about 50-60 Bulgarian levs per day. That’s why many tend to switch to other agricultural businesses. Making a living today is tough and unfortunately, we cannot provide enough for our workers”.
Rancheva highlighted that rose farming doesn’t need financial aid but governmental measures to protect the business.
“We are currently holding talks with the government and we know that we cannot expect any promises. We are not the only ones with severe problems in the country. We chose to believe that the state would do everything in its power to help us out. At this stage, however, we don’t see a way out. We are willing to work for a yield of 400 kg per acre but we demand reasonable bulk prices for it.”
The rose farmer added that her business is struggling to break even. Tax and worker expenses along with the moist weather that is reducing the yields are becoming an increasingly threatening issue for the rose farming business.
Rancheva said that she is not willing to back down from the rose farming after spending her childhood in the fields and investing 30 years of her life in the business. Unfortunately, she is planning a reduction of the rose fields and further optimizations of the production.
“A big portion of the farmers didn’t even harvest their production as there is no market for it right now. If we have to go through another year like this, we may have to turn away from rose farming. I’m not talking about just small farmers but about people managing fields of 50 acres and more as well.”
She added that investments in rose production are significant and manpower is required all year round, but returns at the end are scarce.
