Land and Water in Romania’s Food Economy

Abstract

This article aims at presenting the American public with an overview of Romania’s agriculture – a medium-sized European country with an area of 238.391 km² and a population of 19.3 million. It is worth noting that 45% of Romania’s population live in rural areas while 30% of the country’s active population is involved in the agricultural sector.

Thus, Romania’s 14.685 thousands hectares (ha) of agricultural land and 9.455 thousands ha of arable land is one of the best land per capita hectarage in the world with a 0.68 ha of agricultural land and 0.44 ha of arable land per capita compared to an average of 0.27 ha per capita in Europe and, indeed, the World.

Due to the fact that large parts of these agricultural lands are being plagued by drought rather frequently, more than three million ha of land in areas most affected by this phenomenon, such as in the Romanian Plain – which is abutting the Danube River – as well as the country’s South-Eastern reaches – made up of the historical provinces of Dobrogea and Moldavia – were prepared for irrigation, during the period 1965–1989.

The aquatic resources’ management is hardly better. Fish stock yields of just a few tens of kilos per ha at angling and a few hundred kilos per ha in fish farms and the poor management resources led to the extinction of valuable species of their becoming now endangered species, such as the sturgeon while even the rather common turbot is now an expensive delicatessen. There aren’t any local fish farms of marine species as over 80% of fish products are being imported.

Due to the poor management of fish stocks and the critical lack of investment in fishing boats, tackle and the entire infrastructure supporting the fishing industry that would make trout farms affordable in mountainous regions, Romania is about to become a 100% importer of fishery products.