 ORGANIC AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION Mariana Ivanova, Svetla Tenova, Teodora Ilieva, Elena Nikolova, Dimitar Yakimov University of Agribusiness and Rural Development78 Dunav Blvd. 4003 Plovdiv, Bulgaria ABSTRACT Healthy and safe environment is the main factor of life quality. Globalization of food chains leads to new challenges and risks for human heath and environmental protection. Organic farming is one of the alternatives in future sustainable development as an approach based on a system of             energy are used with a greater responsibility, biodiversity is kept, soil fertility is being conserved and improved, water quality is enhanced and as a whole ecological balance is maintained [3,5,9]. Organic farming as a way of thinking and as a practice is not a new thing. I In last years its importance and use are growing not only because of the new European Union, but also of national policies and opportunities for farmers [4,6,7]. In this paper organic and conventional agriculture are compared in respect to environmental protection considering water, soil, biodiversity and landscape preservation and the advantages and opportunities of organic are underlined. KEYWORDS: organic and conventional farming, environmental protection 1. INTRODUCTION Organic agriculture is a philosophy and specific way of agricultural production. The soil is seen as a living system and identifies the relationships: soil  plant  animal  man. The main objective is the production of organic products in harmony with nature by relying on the biological cycles of development. Organic farming is not only a method of agricultural production., but it is also a lifestyle, a way of thinking. It is also a social movement. Since its appearance, many concepts and understanding of soil, health, nature, politics, science, etc. have been subjected to more criticism, not as an alternative to modern farming practices [12]. The main goal of this study was to make a comparative study between farmers and producers involved in organic and conventional farming in terms of environmental protection. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the advantages of organic farming over conventional through comparative analysis prepared based on information provided by farmers and agricultural producers.