Blagoy Andonov from Limo Buls is the first Bulgarian NEWBIE winner of the year. Blagoy cultivates more than 120 ha arable land in a remote border region and produces forage for the farms in the area. He has overcome one of the biggest problems in Bulgaria- a very fragmented land and many owners to deal with. Thanks to his passion to agriculture, persistence and personal contacts with people from villages he has made 200 contracts with more than 1000 heirs to rent their land, part of it has been abandoned for years, to aggregate it and cultivate effectively and the owners are paid the part of his agricultural products – grain, forage or milk. In autumn Blagoy is going to complete his new milk cow building and is looking for high productive cows and equipment. The amount of the award of 500 euro will be used in international exchange for experience exchange and cooperation with milk farms. The NEWBIE project, contest and award was presented by the Business incubator – Gotse Delchev during the National Exhibition of French breeds in Bulgaria on 8 June at “Sliven – Expo” supported by Ministry of Agriculture and Food and organized by the National Sheep Breeding Association. Evgenia Achkakanova PhD from Agricultural Academy and the chairperson of the Association, who is the member of the Bulgarian NEWBIE Steering Group, awarded the prize to Blagoy Andonov.
