NTG Support for Sesame and Tahini Production in the Eastern Rhodopes

The support of the New Thracian Gold (NTG) for successful restoration of sesame and tahini production in the Eastern Rhodopes is presented by Dr. Vladislav Popov, NTG coordinator on organic farming at the NTG, in an article published in the latest issue (N:10) of the agriculture ‘Plant Protection’ magazine.

In the last five years, a number of small scale facilities in Bulgaria started to revive the production of tahini for local consumption and for sale to tourists. One of the NTG project goals is to increase its income of the population of the Eastern Rhodopes by e.g. "establishing a model of cooperation and joint processing of at least one local organic food product before being sold on the market".

By providing training and consultancy, the NTG supported a local group of nine producers of sesame and cereals to set up a business entity (Bioterra-Ivajlovgrad Ltd) in the villages of Kondovo and Pelevun, in municipality of Ivaylovgrad. The group will act as a marketing cooperative of a new type. The aim is joint production of sesame and grain, processing to add value to raw organic produce, improve marketing and create/promote the NTG regional products, wrote Dr. V. Popov in his article.

The NTG projects provided this group of producers with agricultural machinery (sowing machine, trench cultivator and harvester) for proper sowing of grain and sesame, improving the product quality and dealing with weeds.

Opening a small factory for tahini and sesame oil is under preparation in the village of Kondovo, which will be commonly managed by the organization of the nine producers. There is already a demand for organic tahini from shops in Sofia and traders from Austria, Germany and the Netherlands.

See here the article (in Bulgarian)

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