Dimitre Nikolov 1, Ivan Boevsky 1, Krasimir Kostenarov 1, Ekatherina Tzvetanova 1, Martin Banov 2, Laura Zavattaro 3, Josef Krasa 4, Tomas Dostal 4, Gunther Carl Liebhard 5, Peter Strauss 5, Zsofia Bakacsi 6, Csilla Hudek 7, Jose A. Gómez 8 and Maria Gema Guzman Diaz 9
1 New Bulgarian University – Sofia, Bulgaria
2 Agricultural Academy, Institute of Soil Science „Nikola Poushkarov“, Bulgaria
3 University of Turin, Italy
4 Czech Technical University, Czech Republic
5 BOKU University, Vienna, Austria
6 ATK Institute for soil science, Hungary
7 University of Lancaster, United Kingdom
8 Spanish National Research Council – CSIC, Spain
9 Andalusian Institute of Agricultural and Fisheries Research and Training (IFAPA), Spain
Nikolov, D., Boevsky, I., Kostenarov, K., Tzvetanova, E., Banov, M., Zavattaro, L., Krasa, J., Dostal, T., Liebhard, G. C., Strauss, P., Bakacsi, Z., Hudek, C., Gómez, J. A. & Diaz, G. G. (2026). Mapping agricultural business models to foster socioeconomic opportunities: Insights from Europe. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 32(3), 573–587
Enhancing social capital, improving market connections for healthy goods and services, and increasing business and technical management capacities can help farmers adopt more sustainable and profitable business models. The aim of the study was to map the business models used by farmers in three agricultural systems (tree crops, cereal-based rotations, and pastures) across European countries. The study used a simplified Business Model Canvas to define the elements of the business model. Then, a two-step cluster analysis was applied to identify the characteristics that define each business model. As a result, four business models were described. A comparative analysis was then made between them. Based on these analyses, conclusions were drawn about the socioeconomic opportunities for their further development.