At present, 5,588 producers cultivate 79 percent of the land and the total number of holdings with fewer than 1,000 acres amounts to 55,563. These figures were provided during a parliamentary control session by the Minister of Agriculture and Food, Desislava Taneva.





She said, however, that not all producers with holdings of up to 1,000 acres are small farmers, because everything depends on the type of farming they work on.





"If you produce fruit and vegetables, then the financial results will be good enough and the farms will be sustainable," said the Minister of Agriculture.





She assured that the MAF has been providing support to all small producers in need of aid during the current programming period.





According to her, priority support has been given over the years to Bulgarian agricultural sectors such as livestock, fruits and vegetables, which at times have registered a reduced production.





The Minister recalled that the country has adopted a ceiling for direct subsidies to arable land to prevent the concentration of funds from direct payments to large farms.







