Environmentalists have launched a campaign for the certification of the north-western village of Lyubenovo, Nikopol municipality, as the first bio-village in Bulgaria.

According to Albena Simeonova, Chair of the Foundation for Environment and Agriculture, as cited by news portal investor.bg, applications will be sent to the respective state authorities to certify all private yards in the village, as well as a small workshops for bio-products like juice, wine and lyutenitsa (a Bulgarian national relish made of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, onion, garlic and spices).

Simeonova and her team have been growing cabbage organically for years on the territory of Lyubenovo.

The cultivation of organic cabbage involves no chemical fertilizers or pest control chemicals, which makes the work of the farmers much more difficult, Simeonova notes.

"We treat the vineyard with blue vitriol, as my grandfather taught me, which is why the grapes contain no chemical residue," the Chair of the Foundation for Environment and Agriculture explains.

She says that she recently started producing bio-wine, which will be tasted at the first of its kind for Bulgaria Bio'Trifon Zarezan' vineyard festival which will be held on February 14 with the support of the Bulgarian Association for Bio-Products and Organic Farming.

"Among the reasons to celebrate is the fact that Bulgarian bio-producers were the first among all agricultural producers to receive agro-ecological payments, which encouraged their efforts to produce environmentally friendly goods," Simeonova adds.