Buffalo farm in Tzar Kaloyan opens its doors to show an innovative energy-efficient installation

The Yotkovi family’s buffalo farm is one of the three Bulgarian dairy farms where a combined installation for water heating using sustainable energy was introduced last year. The installation uses solar power and eco pellets. The farm now has a lot more warm water (over 450 litres per day) heated for less time and at a lower price. The result of all this is better hygiene in the farm and improved milk quality. Also, the sustainable energy use also support the protection of the environment. 43% of the energy In the Yotkovi family farm is produced with the help of the solar power, the other 57% come from the pellets. During the year to follow the installation of the system, the farm has saved around 1440 BGN from electricity bills.
During the day of the open doors the visitors, other farmers, and journalists will have the opportunity to examine the installation, to talk to its creators, to the Yotkovi family, to experts from the Trakia University, and the BIOSELENA foundation. There will also be a special farm tour and tastings of buffalo milk products. The Yotkovi family are practicing vets, and their farm has existed since 2005 and is the only larger buffalo farm in the Razgrad area. The family cares for 80 buffalo (40 of which are dairy) of the Bulgarian Murrah breed. Animals from the farm have won awards for best representative of the breed. The annual milk yield of the farm is 70 tonnes. The innovative installation is part of the project for “Energy efficiency and improved milk quality in Bulgarian farms” led by BIOSELENA, the Trakia University in Stara Zagora, and the large Norwegian NGO Norges Vel. The project is realised with the financial support of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism “Green Industry Innovation”.
The value of the installation is estimated at around 20 000 BGN. Farms, households, greenhouses, and other small businesses, such as restaurants, guest houses, small-scale food production sites, could benefit from using a similar installation privately or by applying for a grant through the energy efficiency area of focus of the EU programme for Rural development 2014-2020.
The installation was awarded in the competition for innovation at the International Agricultural Exhibition Agra 2015 in Plovdiv. A panel from the installation, together with other component materials, were presented at a series of exhibitions throughout this year. These generated keen interest among farmers and agricultural producers and a desire for the use of the system in other places in the country, too. Open days of the other farms where the system was installed – in the villages of Dobrodan, Troyan, and Momino selo, Plovdiv – were also met with great interest.
Watch this 10-minute documentary which clearly shows how as a result of the project, the three dairy farms have increased their energy efficiency, and see the challenges they met in the process.
The open day event is from 11:00 till 14:00. GPS coordinates of the farm here.