Conference on Digitization in Beekeeping in Bulgaria

Sofia - EU Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Phil Hogan, EU Digital Economy and Society Commissioner Mariya Gabriel and Bulgarian Agriculture, Food and Forestry Minister Roumen Porozhanov opened the first international conference on "Digitization in Beekeeping: Benefits and Challenges" here on Friday.

Hogan noted that bees' health is an issue taken very seriously by the European Commission, and that the public are concerned with the recorded decline of bee populations worldwide. He called for joint efforts to address this issue. The Commissioner noted that despite the 12,000 million euro gap that will open in the EU budget because of Brexit, the money for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) after 2020 are 95 per cent safeguarded, and the remaining 5 per cent should now be safeguarded, too. According to him, all farmers should receive the same payments regardless of their location. Hogan would like to see more funds allocated for research. He pointed out that EU research units could help Bulgarian farmers. In the future, the Common Agriculture Policy will be modernized and small farmers should also have access to support. According to Hogan, European beekeepers should unite and benefit from the Union's good practices. As an example, he cited a newly developed application which makes it possible to monitor bees without opening the hive and sends a signal to the mobile phone when a human intervention is needed.

Gabriel noted that beekeeping combines traditions and history and that today it could be an example of future and innovations, too. She listed some of the challenges facing the sector, such as bees' health, exposure to the impact of chemicals, and climate change, adding that bees' health is a strategic topic for the European Commission. The Commissioner said that farmers and beekeepers should unite, adding that digitization may provide instruments that both need. According to her, artificial intelligence could help make agriculture smarter and precise. Common applications and platforms can provide farmers and beekeepers with information in order to improve coordination between them. Gabriel noted the opportunity for setting up a database and digital innovation hubs.

Porozhanov recalled that a Bulgarian agriculture digitization strategy has been drawn up and will be laid shortly before the Council of Ministers. The Agriculture Minister said that Bulgaria has a beekeeping programme and noted there are about 780,000 bee families here. "We have a market for bee products; for the past 10 months alone, the foreign trade surplus for honey export approximates 32 million euro", Porozhanov commented.

Source: BTA Daily News