Bulgarian Industrialization and Farm Mechanization Under Socialism

Abstract

Before the Second World War Bulgaria was a backward agrarian country with poorly developed industries. Agriculture was one of the most backward branches of the economy: farms were predominantly small and yielded low incomes. The average size of a Bulgarian farm, measured by land owned, was 72.8 decares in 1897,¹ 63 decares in 1908, 57.2 decares in 1926, and 49 decares in 1934. According to the census taken in 1934, 40.2 per cent of all peasant households possessed less than 30 decares of land, and 63.1 per cent possessed less than 50 decares of land. Farms of over 200 decares (roughly 50 acres) constituted only 1.5 per cent of all farms in the country and they accounted for 8.8 per cent of the total arable land.