{"id":2333,"date":"2024-06-10T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-10T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koczoradam.hu\/?post_type=fw-portfolio&p=2333"},"modified":"2026-10-21T00:15:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T23:15:08","slug":"tanulmanyut-bulgaria","status":"publish","type":"fw-portfolio","link":"https:\/\/koczoradam.hu\/en\/project\/tanulmanyut-bulgaria\/","title":{"rendered":"Study trip: Central Bulgaria"},"content":{"rendered":"

In September 2026 I went on a study trip to the area around Troyan, in Lovech Province, next to the Central Balkan National Park. The topic was organic fruit growing in Bulgaria, apples and plums in particular: first lectures, then visits to an extensive organic plum orchard and an intensive apple orchard. I had been to Bulgaria once before, on rosehip<\/a>\u00a0business \u2013 the country is one of the world\u2019s leading producers of rose oil, rosehip and rose products.<\/p>\n

Local fruit on local shelves<\/h3>\n

One of the lectures listed fruit species that are not traditional but are edible: pawpaw (Indian banana, Asimina triloba<\/em>), jujube, large-fruited hawthorn varieties, cherry plum, Sorbus<\/em>\u00a0species. The food industry won\u2019t take such small, fluctuating lots, because it can\u2019t develop a product or a production line for them. In Bulgaria these fruits are sold fresh in local shops \u2013 and the short supply chain shows in the quality. The tomatoes at the breakfast buffet were fleshy, oxheart-type, not the usual ping-pong-ball imports. For Hungarian growers of minor crops, this sales model is at least as instructive as the species themselves.<\/p>\n

Essential oils in beekeeping and crop protection<\/h3>\n

A bee researcher spoke about using essential oils \u2013 thymol above all \u2013 in beekeeping and crop protection. The topic is close to me: it has been the subject of several doctoral theses at the Department of Plant Pathology at MATE, and I co-authored a paper on a similar subject. Essential oils act through several modes of action at once, so resistance develops slowly; dissolving into the waxy cuticle of the leaf they can give a longer-lasting effect, and in emulsion they are good surfactants.<\/p>\n

The real opportunity is that several essential oils come from plants that can be grown in Hungary \u2013 thyme, for example, is one of the richest sources of thymol. Orange oil and thymol are already approved active substances in the EU, but approval applies to the substance and the product, and it is slow and expensive, so Hungarian herb growers hardly benefit. If food-grade essential oils could enter crop protection more simply, for example as basic substances, that would open a new market for the herb sector as well.<\/p>\n

Plums: sharka-tolerant local varieties and a pest protected in Hungary<\/h3>\n

In the extensive organic plum orchard \u2013 to my surprise \u2013 the main problem was not sharka (plum pox, Plum pox virus<\/em>), even though the disease was first described in Bulgaria. The few \u2018Stanley\u2019 trees are tolerant of it, and the Bulgarian varieties bred locally for sharka resistance even more so. These are small-fruited, honey-sweet plums, closer to the classic taste of \u2018Besztercei\u2019 than \u2018Stanley\u2019 or \u2018Bluefre\u2019 \u2013 Hungarian nurseries and breeders should take a look at them.<\/p>\n

The most damage was done by the Mediterranean flatheaded rootborer (Capnodis tenebrionis<\/em>). Its larvae infest the roots of stone fruit, especially in drought years, and can kill mature trees. Organic growers have few tools against it: the farmer whitewashes the trunks so that the black beetles climbing up in spring are easy to spot, and collects them by hand into buckets. In Hungary this species is \u2013 for now \u2013 legally protected.<\/p>\n

The market is no easier there: it was a record year for plums, so part of the crop finds a buyer as plum brandy \u2013 rakia.<\/p>\n

Apples: coloured netting and \u2018Florina\u2019<\/h3>\n

The intensive apple orchard works with close spacing, fertigation through drip lines, pheromone mating disruption against codling moth, and hail netting. The farmer uses the netting mainly as shade, against sunburn. He has tried white, lemon-yellow, red and, this year, black netting; in his experience red has worked best.<\/p>\n

The \u2018Florina\u2019 variety was a pleasant surprise. In taste and texture it recalls \u2018Jonathan\u2019, but it is scab-resistant and tolerant of powdery mildew, so it can be protected well in organic production \u2013 unlike \u2018Jonathan\u2019, which is hard to protect even with modern crop protection.<\/p>\n

What can be brought home<\/h3>\n