Herbalism is a vital industry for many of the small settlements in Bulgaria
Photo: “Bioprogram”
There is almost no person in Bulgaria who does not know the main types of herbs and who has not used herbal decoction treatment at least once in his life. Our country has an extremely rich and diverse nature, therefore a wide variety of medicinal plants can be found on our territory. according to the researchers about 3,600 types of herbs grow in our country, up to 700 are used for medicinal purposes, and 300 types of herbs are collected regularly every year. For decades we have been on the list of pages where the highest quality medicinal plants are extracted. However, a small part of the collected production remains in our country, because more than 80% of the nearly 15 thousand tons of herbs harvested annually are exported to the country, mainly to the USA and Western European countries.
The problem is that this old tradition is about to disappear – for Bulgarians to go out into nature to collect herbs – this is what Desislav Dionisiev, executive director of a large herbal products company, known both in our country and on world markets, says.
“Herbs are a factor in agriculture, which is why many countries in the EU pay great attention to herbalism and in particular to the cultivation of herbs,” he told Radio Bulgaria:
“There is only one way to keep interest in herbalism in our country, and that is to get the pickers paid for the time so that you have interest and continue to pick herbs because it is laborious work. There are places in Bulgaria where all this is the main activity and the main livelihood of the people. This is also very important for retaining the population, because in many places our country is depopulated, there are no people in the villages. therefore herbalism should be preserved as a livelihood and supported. Very soon in Bulgaria there will be about 8-10 cities with inhabitants, and in the villages there will be no one to even welcome you. That is why I have been insisting for 30 years that this industry be taken seriously as very important for small settlements. So far, however, no one is paying attention, I doubt that anyone will listen to me now.”
In Bulgaria, nobody pays attention to herbalism – says Desislav Dionisiev and adds that his company pays high fees to the state for using natural products. But this money is not going to improve the sector, and there is a dire need to train the people who collect the herbs, because they need to know well the hundreds of species of plants that they have in our lands.
Some types of herbs are cultivated in our country, thus ensuring greater quantities and controlling the quality of medicinal plants. “Mainly lemon balm, mint, milk thistle, medicinal blush, thyme are cultivated here, but this is between 5 and 10% of the total volume of herbs that are collected in Bulgaria” – Desislav Dionisiev explains:
“Quality levels are constantly being raised worldwide and we are making huge efforts to be competitive and reach the levels that are set in the world. We export herbs in bulk. Only in the Bulgarian branch of “Bioprogramma” around 200 people are constantly working , there are 15 in Poland and there is a company in the US where 30 people work for our company. However, apart from these jobs, we give a living to thousands more people, those who cultivate and produce all and those who collect the herbs. This it’s not just a seasonal job, it’s a year-round job. When we talk about a successful business, we don’t mean to advertise ourselves, it’s important to do our job well, and being in demand means we’re successful.”
Photos: “Bioprogram”
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