National Research Programme “Healthy Food for Strong Bioeconomy and Quality of Life”
The National Research Programme “Healthy Food for Strong Bioeconomy and Quality of Life” has the main goal of encouraging targeted research in the fields of agriculture, food and bioeconomy that would help tackle the three main challenges these sectors are currently confronted with: viable food production; sustainable management of natural resources and actions in the field of climate and balanced bioeconomy development. The National Science Programme unites scientists from the Agrarian University of Plovdiv, the Thracian University of Stara Zagora, The Food Technology University of Plovdiv, Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, the Agricultural Academy and BAS.
According to FAO, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation the climate changes are a major factor for the food crises that cause world hunger. The global population growth and the economic growth are leading to intensifying competition in the use of resources that are the core of food production. It is expected that the demand for water for agricultural needs will increase by 30% by 2030.
In Bulgaria, the researchers’ forecast is that the increasing temperatures and the changing rainfall model will affect the functioning of the local economic and ecological systems. The more frequent extreme natural phenomena will cause instability in the agricultural production and the production prices. A variety of methods and their combinations have been developed for practical application in the food origin assessment, identification and differentiation of input raw materials, presence of specific allergens, pathogens, and evaluation of the bio-accessibility of food components. Various useful microorganisms derived from traditional fermented foodstuffs or from natural sources were researched, as well as the features of natural bioactive components to design foodstuff models with characteristic state, improved functionality, and healthy content.
National Research Programme “Smart Stockbreeding”
How do scientists make the stockbreeder’s work easier?
National Research Programme “Smart Stockbreeding” provides stockbreeders with innovative methods and tools for smart stockbreeding with reduced involvement of human resource and reduced impact on the environment. The Programme unites 8 Bulgarian academic and research organisations who are long-term leaders in stockbreeding and high technology with the goal of increasing the quality, boosting productivity and a safer future.
The Programme conserves the rich gene pool of the traditional Bulgarian breeds and geographically protected products. Solutions are being offered for reducing the stress factors and providing a controlled and optimized conditions environment; innovative alternatives in the fields of visual surveillance and monitoring accessible for all farmers. New, fully automated, and robotised technical means and processes with applications along the entire production chain and distribution networks are being developed. All that is done with care for the environment and optimum use of resources and human labour.
National Research Programme “Smart Stockbreeding” is implemented in cooperation with the industry, which is a key to improvement of the research design and their final successful outcomes. And success here will mean higher breeding value of the local breeds, innovative technologies and smart solutions for breeding, health monitoring and humane attitude to animals, resource efficiency and food safety.