Sustainable Agriculture and Successful Agribusiness | Dealing with future conditions that no one can predict

Do you want to be more independent and do successful sustainable farming with lower costs, higher profit, better quality produce, while constantly improving natural soil fertility?

Join our conference:

Sustainable Agriculture and Successful Agribusiness  

Dealing with future conditions that no one can predict

During the meeting, there will be a chance to learn about the path of transition from conventional agriculture to regenerative agriculture, which protects the soil. The panelists include e.g. farmers from the RAR project who will share their many years of experience in implementing regenerative agriculture practices on their farms, as well as fantastic experts in the field of training and advising on soil management practices and the ecosystem approach to agriculture.

This event is organized by ABNT - Association of Bulgarian No Tillers, under the EIT Food Regenerative Agriculture Revolution Project,  financed by EIT Food. 

📆 WHEN? 27th October 

📌 WHERE? Bulgaria, Plodiv [Hotel SPS]

👉 Register NOW! Contact Toma Staykov, General Manager of Association of BULGARIAN No-Tillers directly via abnt.bg@gmail.com

WHO IS THIS CONFERENCE FOR?

🌱 For Farmers who feel there is another way to be more independent and do successful sustainable farming with lower costs, higher profit, better quality produce and constantly improving natural soil fertility.

🌱 For people who are interested in quality and nutritious food, as well as in the future of soils, nature and climate

TOPICS AND PROGRAM

09:30 – 10:00   Registration 

10:00 – 13:00   The Transition Path from Conventional Agriculture to No Till and Conservation Agriculture, which protects soils from degradation 
and erosion.

13:00 – 14:00   LUNCH 

14:00 – 15:00   The Transition Path to Regenerative Agriculture

✅ Regenerative Agriculture, which restores and builds on natural soil fertility.

15:00 – 15:15   Coffee Break 

15:15 – 16:30   ONLINE: Gareth Culligan, Association BASE Ireland

16:30 - 16:45   Coffee Break

16:45 – 17:30   ONLINE: Guest speaker: Kai Granholm | Expert on European policies from BSAG, sharing the vision of EU policy towards Regenerative Agriculture

17:30 – 18:30   Discussion: REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE IN THE GREENHOUSE
Tools and Methodology

LECTURER: Ivo from NEARBY FARM


19:00  Dinner and Networking

Additional information can be found on the official website - please note that the website is in Bulgarian

For Bulgarian speakers, the registration form can be found HERE.

About the guest speakers

Kai Granholm | Expert on European policies from BSAG – Baltic Sea Action Group (Action Group for Saving the Baltic Sea)

Carbon Action is a pilot project developed at BSAG and launched with funding from Sitra in 2017. Carbon Action aims for multiple benefits: better soil health, increased biodiversity and resilience, climate change mitigation and reduced fertilizer discharge and preparations in the Baltic Sea and other water bodies.

Ivo from NEAR FARM

Ivo is an agronomist with over 20 years of experience . Together with his wife, they created the CLOSE FARM, the first Regenerative Organic Farm in Bulgaria with greenhouse production. The business model of NEAR FARM is to sell the produce to direct customers, through subscriptions for regular deliveries of fresh and fresh food.

Farmers Story from “Regenerative Agriculture Revolution” project 2023

Petya Zaharieva and her husband Tsvetan Zahariev , who breed Angus and Limousin cattle on 3,000 decares of their own pastures in the pretty Renaissance town of Panagyurishte.

Gareth Culligan, BASE Association, Ireland

Gareth Culligan is an innovative farmer based in Ireland, next to Dublin. He has been independently managing his farm since 2001, taking over from his father, Nicholas Culligan. Gareth has been a proponent of Conservation and Regenerative Agriculture since he took over the farm. He initially implemented minimum tillage crop establishment in 2001 and transitioned to direct drilling by 2008. Eventually, he adopted a full No-Till crop establishment method. His farming practices are guided by the three fundamental principles of Conservation and Regenerative Agriculture: "no till," "cover crops," and "rotation." In addition, he has reduced the use of pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers and abstains from using insecticides altogether.

Alexander Kitev, Chairman of ABNT – Association of Bulgarian No Tillers

Alexander Kitev is an experienced farmer with a 10-year-old No-Till practice on his 2,500-acre farm. around Sofia. Alexander is one of the pioneers in large-scale conservation / regenerative agriculture in Bulgaria and has been personally trained by leading world farmers in the field such as Rick Bieber from "No Till On the Planes".

Petya Ivanova, Regenerative Agriculture and Soil Health Expert of ABNT

Petya Ivanova has over 15 years of experience with living systems. For 8 years, he has been researching and studying in depth regenerative agriculture, the soil ecosystem and overall methods of applying regenerative agriculture as a production model in various directions.

What is Regenerative Agriculture Revolution Project?

With the mission to make food in Europe healthier and more sustainable, EIT Food aims to help scale up regenerative practices in agriculture and present their benefits for the environment and public health. Therefore, our network develops and brings together different actors in the food supply chain to make teaching scalable and accessible for all.  

To fulfil this mission, EIT Food has launched its programme to educate farmers across Europe about how they use sustainable farming practices. This project is being implemented in countries such as Bulgaria, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.

In each country involved in our regenerative agriculture project the conditions, requirements, and challenges might differ slightly. That is why we have selected and collaborated with experts and agronomists who know the field. Together we organise training and lead advisory programmes and are available for any consultancy regarding transitioning into regenerative farming. 

The goal of this project is to grow the regenerative community in the CEE region.