The rose harvest season has begun in the rose fields near the southern city of Kazanlak, which is the most famous rose growing region in Bulgaria. A harvest ritual near the village of Tserganovo yesterday, Sunday, was included in the program of the 121st edition of the Rose Festival, the local administration said.
Dozens of visitors attended the event despite the rain in this town at the foot of the Aimos, at the eastern end of the Valley of Roses. They saw a demonstration of rose petal distillation and tasted marmalade and rose liqueur.
Rose picking will take place every weekend until June 2nd.
The roses are picked early in the morning, before the sun rises, organizers of the event held yesterday told VTA. The work is finished by 9 am because the concentration of the essential oil in the rose petals is highest between 4 and 8 am.
Traditionally, women would sing as they gathered the rose petals and compete to see who might gather the most. In the rose gardens, the harvesting and payment of those who pick the roses takes place. The one who collects the most petals, later has the honor of dragging the dance to the village square. Distillation of the rose petals begins as soon as the day’s harvest is over.
Cauldrons are filled with rose petals and water. Roses to be harvested must be in full bloom for maximum oil content. It takes 2.5 to 3 tons of rose petals to produce one kilogram of rose oil. The first distillate is known as rose water. It goes through a second distillation to turn it into rose oil.
Bulgaria is one of the top three producers of rose oil in the world.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, there are 2,943 registered rose growers (as of March 7, 2024) in the country. The rose plantations cover 53,670 acres. There are 67 registered processors and they use 53 facilities to process roses.
In 2023, Bulgaria exported 1,370 kg of rose oil and fetched an average export price of EUR 9,168 per kg. Most exports go to the United States, China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and France.
Last year this country imported 79 kg of rose oil from Turkey and China.
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