Open Day at Deroni Gardens

A celebration of agriculture, knowledge and tradition in industrial tomato production

On July 3rd in Bulgaria, in the heart of Deroni Gardens, an inspiring Open Day was held with the assistance of the Fitto Terra company, which brought together people with a love for the land and its fruits – farmers, scientists, agronomists and representatives of leading companies from various sectors of agriculture.

A walk through the fields and a tour of all parts of the Deroni fields, which are equipped with the most modern hail cannons and drainage systems, nutrient nodes for supplying micro and macro elements to the tomato plant fields, as well as the built irrigation system and monitoring system, was organized and conducted!

The day continued with a seminar part, which was extremely rich and interesting.

Special guests gave lectures from charismatic Prof. Nidal Shaban from Balkan Agricultural – the largest factory for processing tomatoes into tomato products, who introduced us to the challenges of growing tomato for processing with high Brix contents in arid conditions. Professor Shaban present last information related to Tomato fruit blotch virus (Blunervirus solani) shared by Sophie Colvine from AMITOM.

From Spain – Atlantica Agricola – Mr. Miguel Miralles on biostimulants with algae, enzymes and microorganisms grown in their factory in Spain under the strict control of engineers and scientists.

From Greece – D Sandros SA – agronomist George Sandros, who discovered and told us in detail a protocol for growing Heinz tomatoes with Atlantica Agricola products

All of them shared experience, scientific data and good practices through inspiring presentations and practical advice. Ms. Antoaneta Bozhinova from the Association of Traditional Bulgarian Canned Foods (ATBK) presented the challenges facing farmers and processors, and Madeleine Royère-Koonings, representing AMITOM, spoke about the latest news regarding innovations in the tomato industry; trends in processing, history of pricing and consumption worldwide of tomato concentrate, purees and industrial tomato products.

As a co-organizer and member of ATBC, Mrs. Theodora Tasseva from Fitto Terra expresses her  heartfelt gratitude to all attendees and speakers, and especially to our wonderful hosts from Deroni and to Mr. D. Angelinov, who welcomed the guests with warmth, attention and great professionalism.

Visitors had the opportunity to follow the entire journey of the vegetable – from the small seed, through the carefully grown seedlings, the development of the field, agronomic care protocols with natural products of Atlantica Agricola, harvesting, storage and processing, right up to that final moment when the product ends up in a jar – a delicious lyutenitsa with an inimitable and magical Bulgarian taste. Not only was the exchange of information discussed, but ideas and solutions for the future of agriculture as well.

Mrs. Theodora Tasseva from Fitto Terra shared that the power of united people as well as the use of natural products, Atlántica Agricola biostimulants play an important role in modernizing field practices! Growing clean food by using certified seeds as an example in industrial tomatoes Fitto Terra presented Heinz varieties. Mrs. Theodora Tasseva considers her cooperation with scientific institutes and people from the scientific world to be her mission and promised to cooper more with the scientific community so that all innovations in the industry can be possible and implemented in the cultivation of fruits and vegetables in Bulgaria!

Mr. D. Angelinov, Mr. D. Sandros and Mr. A. Al Nauimi promised to develop a stronger agriculture in Bulgaria together. This day was a true celebration of sustainable agriculture, innovation and partnership, in which the history and future of food met.

We promised to make it a tradition!