On the outskirts of Knezha, a field filled with quality produce is about to rot under the snow. Instead of reaching the tables of Bulgarians, tons of cabbage will be destroyed by its producer. The reason is an economic absurdity - the purchase prices are so low that the harvest is "in the red", with.
Plamen Tafradzhiyski is 35 years old and has been involved in family farming since 2007. Today, however, he admits that he is about to give up. Under the snow, there are currently 24 acres of cabbage, which he decides not to sell to intermediaries.
“The large chains and exchanges give 20 stotinki without VAT – or 24 stotinki with VAT. After paying the workers' wages and the depreciation of the equipment, everything comes out at a loss. Only the exchanges and resellers profit“, explains Plamen.
Faced with the impossibility of selling his produce on the market, the farmer makes an unusual decision – to give the cabbage away to anyone who wants to go and pick it up themselves. However, the result is even more desperate.
“At least 50 tons remained in the field. No one wants to come and pick it up – not even for animals or for personal consumption, and the cabbage is useless. Despite the announcement that it was free, people took a maximum of 500 kilograms, says Plamen. When asked if he doesn't feel sorry for the work, he just shrugs - he says he has no other choice.
Anyone who wants to take some of the Bulgarian cabbage has only one more week to do so. After that, Plamen will enter the fields with the tractor to bury the harvest.
“It goes for “green fertilization“, although this is quite expensive fertilization. We get by with the plow and the disk harrow and that's it. Next year we will plant only two or three acres, just enough to make ends meet, and then we will switch to other crops,“ the young man shares with disappointment.