Young people in agriculture: Gergana Marinova

In the past weeks we have met with interesting young people from all over Bulgaria and decided to present some of them in a series of interviews. Find out more about the people who have chosen agriculture as an area in which to develop and continue the continuity between generations in business.

What prompted them to start working in agriculture, what difficulties they encounter in carrying out daily tasks and what advice they give to their peers who decided to follow their path — all in the series:

Young people in agriculture

The first story is by Gergana Marinova from North-West Bulgaria.

Hello, Gerry. Tell us more about yourself

Hello. My name is Gergana Marinova and I am 29 years old. I work in the family company of ZP Stancho Georgiev Marinov, in the village. Krushovitsa, obl. Vratsa.
Our farm is engaged in land cultivation by growing wheat, barley, corn, sunflower, peas and alfalfa.

My father started farming about 20 years ago and literally had 2 tractors — Bulgar and Belarus. It started with very little land about 100-200 acres. To date, he has managed to develop the farm up to 6000 acres and has purchased a lot of new and different agricultural equipment.

How did your career in agriculture begin?

I graduated in law from Southwest Neofit Rilski University in Blagoevgrad. After that, I decided that I would enroll in a second master's degree — Plant Protection at the Forestry University.
Since I am a child, I have no brothers and sisters, for me it was a kind of vocation to go home to the countryside and start doing our family business.
I have been working on contracts and sales for our farm for 5 years.

What difficulties did you encounter in working on the farm?

The most frequent difficulties were related to the many contracts that were signed over the years before I started dealing with them. It was difficult for me to keep track of their deadlines and clauses. Therefore, it was very important for me to find the best software program that will help me in my work.

I knew that NICs offered farming software and I was sure that it would help me a lot. We have purchased TechnoFarmand at the moment she is my best friend because she helps me introduce the contracts and, accordingly, keep track of their term.

TechnoFarm helps me track contracts, look at the map given properties in the land, check the properties if they are in the “permissible layer”, see the arrays that we process according to an agreement. The modules are made accessible without the need for a high level of computer literacy. They are easy to operate and have a large range of functions.

Definitely after softwareentered our farm, my work has become much easier, saves me a lot of time and helps me who I need.

Since you mentioned your work with the TechnoFarm farming software, would you recommend it to other farmers as well?

I would recommend to anyone TechnoFarm, because by buying it he will save himself a lot of time, nerves and will know that his work will always be perfect. In addition, the people on the team are always responsive and do their best to help you when you need them.

We want to show the stories of Young people in agriculture, what would you advise other young people who decided to develop in this sector?

There's nothing better than a family business, and when it's about creating food, you feel really useful to the world. I would advise all young people to think and understand that being in the countryside and working in the fields does not in any way diminish you from the rest. When you do something you love, it doesn't matter where you are or how you make your money.