Direct payments are the main component of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). They form approximately 76% of CAP budget in the programming period 2014-2020. The main purpose of the study is to outline the opportunities and challenges for Bulgarian agriculture, based on the analysis of direct payments distribution. The Lorenz curve, as the most widely used measure of inequality, is applied in the paper to surveying the disparities in the direct payments distribution. The results of the analysis show highly uneven distribution of the direct support across Bulgarian farms. The Lorenz curve indicates that payments are accumulated mainly in the larger-scale farms, thereby generating problems for small holdings and structural imbalances. The allocation of EU funds has impacted on the level of investments, productivity and economic efficiency of Bulgarian agriculture.

The development of technologies in the 20 th century led to evolution of precision agriculture concept. Nowadays, precision farming is usually associated with the use of GPS and satellite navigation, GIS, unmanned airplanes and drones, variable rate of application, as well as complex and sophisticated computer systems and software. On the other hand, the main question is related to the profitability and efficiency of these technologies and the opportunities for their adoption. The main purpose of the research is to investigate the most popular concepts of precision farming and to analyze the technical and economic efficiency of different technologies based on literature review. The results indicate that the adoption of precision farming technologies is closely related to the farmer's perception of and needs for institutional support. The promotion of precision farming under the Common Agricultural Policy is necessary in order to overcome the number of economic and environmental challenges and ensure sustainable development and green growth.

Viticulture is a traditional and important sector of Bulgarian agriculture and alongside with wine production has a strong export potential. Traditions, combined with favourable natural conditions promote the sector on international markets. The accession of Bulgaria to the European Union brought about a number of challenges and new requirements of the Common Agricultural Policy referring to product quality and competitiveness. The aim of the research is to analyse the competitive advantages of viticulture after the Accession and to highlight the opportunities for the sector in the programing period 2014-2020. Several of the commonly used indicators for the evaluation of competitive advantages have been applied such as the Relative index of export advantages -RXA, the Relative trade advantage -RTA and Related competitiveness -RC. The results of the study show the need for measures directed towards a balanced development of the viticultural sector in a few directions.

The study aims to identify the degree of direct payments concentration in selected Central and Eastern European Member States (compared to the entire EU) and outline the perspectives and recommendations for the next programming period. The spatial scope of the study includes Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Bulgaria. The time scope covers the period 2009–2019. The survey indicates that the payments distribution in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and to a lesser extent also in Poland, is highly unbalanced. The analysed countries used the redistribution instruments, optional for the Member States, which were introduced by the 2013 CAP reform, to a moderate extent, in order to ensure a more even funds distribution between the beneficiaries. It cannot be ruled out that instruments ensuring a more even funds distribution would be politically easier to introduce at the EU level than at the national level. Nevertheless, also in the next financial perspective, in line with the subsidiarity principle, this issue is left to the Member States.

The concerns regarding food security and safety, environmental challenges and resource scarcity remodel the prospects of agriculture. Therefore biodynamic farming as an alternative method for sustainable production becomes an object of growing scientific interest in the past 20 years. Biodynamic farming is one of the oldest organic systems and its roots could be found in the beginning of 20th century. Although the skepticism, biodynamic agriculture evolved over the years and nowadays is considered as an opportunity to address various environmental, social and economic issues. The aim of the paper is to introduce the concept and features of biodynamic agriculture and observe different case studies and surveys on the effect of this farming system upon yields, profitability and sustainability. The analysis is based on different research methods. The paper applies monographic, historical and comparative methods. The results indicate that biodynamic farms have higher soil quality, lower crop yields, and equal or greater net returns than conventional agricultural holdings. The long-term effect of biodynamic farming on the economic performance, however, needs further research and investigation. The studies prove that biodynamic agriculture is important alternative farming system that could provide answers to number of alarming questions associated with viability and sustainable development.