In 1997, the agricultural recovery was due, mainly, to the favourable yields of the 1997-grain harvest. Most of the crops have been very sensitive to the changes experienced in Bulgarian agriculture and the process of transition has meant a reduction in areas or in production levels. In the case of tobacco, sugar and wine the decline has been very significant. Cereals and sunflower seeds appeared to be the main substitute crops of the transition period. The relative share of the latter two in crop output has increased.
Cereals are the most important crops produced in Bulgaria.
Sunflower seeds are one of the few crops where production has increased substantially. At the end of the eighties, livestock was highly concentrated in large state controlled co-operatives and in intensive state livestock complexes. The liquidation process of state controlled co-operatives and the fall of domestic demand marked the start of a decapitalisation phenomenon. The consolidation of small-scale farms, which are now the main farm structures for livestock, has not compensated for the effects of the downward trend in livestock numbers. The decline in livestock has been persistent and there are no signs of recovery.