Happy holiday!
Plant protection is a cause with shared responsibility

January 16 is Plant Protection Day in Bulgaria, a profession with a 120-year tradition. The magazine "Plant Protection" celebrates 55 years on the media market. 20 years of the Bulgarian Association for Plant Protection.

On January 16, 1896, a "Law on measures against the phylloxera infestation (vineyard plague) and for the restoration of vineyards devastated by it" was adopted by a decree of Prince Ferdinand. With this act, the regulated fight against plant pests and plant protection activities in our country officially began.

Plant Protection Specialist Day was first solemnly celebrated on January 16, 2006, in the auditorium of the Agricultural University - Plovdiv, on the occasion of the 110th anniversary of the issuance of Bulgaria's first regulatory act in the field of plant protection. One of the main activities of the service, which is part of the structure of the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency, is the control of plant protection products and fertilizers offered on the market and their use. The goal is the production of safe food, protecting human health and the environment from pollution. In an official congratulatory letter to all plant protection specialists in the country, Prof. Plamen Mollov, Executive Director of BFSA, congratulated them on the holiday and thanked them for the diligent work of the specialists in the field. A plant protection specialist is a cause that carries on its shoulders the responsibility for protecting agricultural production on the territory of Bulgaria. "I wish all of you, your families and loved ones, health, optimism, personal and professional success! I believe that the profession of plant protection specialist is a cause and with joint efforts, next year we will greet each other with even better results!", wished Plamen Mollov.

On January 15 and 16, 2016, at the "Augusta" hotel in Hisarya, celebrations will be held on the occasion of 120 years of plant protection activity in Bulgaria and 20 years of the Bulgarian Association for Plant Protection. The organizer of the celebrations is the Management Board of the Bulgarian Association for Plant Protection (BAPP). The official opening of the event is on January 15 from 1:00 PM, and in addition to the review reports and discussions, a General Assembly of BAPP will be held at 4:00 PM. In the evening, the Plant Protection Specialist Ball will be held, and the next day - January 16 from 9:00 AM - a Round Table on the topic: "New Phytosanitary Risks, Possibilities for Limitation and Control", and from 1:00 PM: "PPP - authorization for placing on the market and use, subsequent control, integrated pest management, legislation.

One of the media leaders in the field of plant protection - the magazine "Plant Protection" also celebrates its anniversary this year.

Historical Review of the magazine "Plant Protection"

• On December 10, 1951, the National Conference on Plant Protection decided that the Institute for Plant Protection in Kostinbrod should publish a Plant Protection Bulletin twice a year. Its first issue appeared on June 1, 1952, edited by Maria Boneva. The editorial board included Corr. Member Ivan Kovachevski, director of the IPP in Kostinbrod, Dimitar Trifonov, head of the "PP" department at the Ministry of Agriculture, Angel Balevski, Dimitar Dodov and Mikhail Tsalev, research associates at the IPP. The IPP Bulletin was published until 1958. After that, it became a publication of the Editorial Office of Agricultural Magazines, edited by Katya Nikolova and Paraskeva Mikhailova.
• At the beginning of 1960, the Council of Ministers adopted the 21st Decree on improving plant protection work in the country, and the Fifth Session of the National Assembly voted a new Law on the Protection of Plants from Diseases and Pests. The Bulletin exhausted its potential and at the beginning of 1960, the magazine "Plant Protection" began to be published with 6 issues per year. Its first editor was Dimitar Veselinov. From 1963, its periodicity increased to 12 issues, and the editor-in-chief became Pepina Angelova, who headed the magazine until 1983. In 1980, Vesela Shishkova started working at the magazine as an editor.
• In 1984, the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the BCP stopped the printing of the magazine "Plant Protection" with a decision, whose argumentation "on expediency" put a definitive end to any other opinions and positions. The last issue is dated December 12, 1984.
• In 1991, the company Phytomedica, owned by Vesela Shishkova, resumed the publication of the magazine "Plant Protection". In the realization of this idea, invaluable contributions were made by Todor Yanev, creator of the National Plant Protection Service and its first general director, Prof. Paraskeva Mikhailova, head of the "Forecast" section at the IPP /the first responsible editor of the resumed magazine/, Pepina Angelova, editor-in-chief of the magazine "Plant Protection" – 1 from 1963 to 1984, Gocho Gochev and Vladimir Dochkov, directors of the regional agrochemical service enterprises in Dobrich and Pleven, and the sales representative of the German company Schering, Nikolay Temelkov.