To say that Romania was not what I might have expected is an understatement. Preconceived ideas of a poorly functioning agriculture immersed in rural poverty proved hugely inaccurate.
I have been to many countries thanks to the Farmers Journal and the Irish Tillage and Land Use Society but I was very impressed by plains of land that stretched to infinity in Romania and yield levels that could make many Irish farmers envious.
In late June I took the ITLUS tour to Romania, a venue chosen not because of its history, size or culture but rather because it had become one of the biggest grain exporting states in the EU. This was no small achievement given that it is barely a decade in the EU and there are still significant signs of subsistence agriculture. But there is also plentiful evidence of a thriving crop agriculture using huge fields and solid infrastructure.
A mass of poles and pylons emphasise the flatness of the plains that stretch beyond the horizon in both directions.
Quad-tracks side by side with horses and carts best describe current day agriculture in Romania. We toured the eastern side of the country only and the density of horse powered transport using the four wheeled caruta increased as we moved north. But perhaps it would not be sensible to equate the presence of carutas with poverty as these were industrious people who seemed to work hard to help make ends meet but they lacked disposable income.
One of the first impressions of the country, as seen on Google earth, is the use of strip agriculture, especially close to towns and villages. This is very much a legacy of the distribution of the land to the people following the collapse of communism. We were never left in any doubt as to the attitude of the people to communism and the historic influence exerted by Russia.
Following the collapse of the USSR the country’s land was given to those who had worked it. As a consequence, land ownership is hugely fragmented with the average farm size being less than 2.3ha. An estimated four million people are officially classed as deriving all or part of their income from agriculture. However consolidation into larger commercial units is on-going, a process referred to locally as compaction.
The farming of the land in sprips is sometimes very evident as one looks towards the horizon.
Infrastructure and climate
When we arrived in Bucharest we were invited to a reception hosted by the Irish Ambassador, Derek Feely. As well as generating a sense of home, the occasion provided us with a great opportunity to meet with many of those who we would subsequently visit. It also provided us with information that would help us understand what we were to see during our travels.
Hugh Beirne from Avalon Comp gave us a brief rundown on agriculture in Romania which is a country of 238,391 km2. This is 2.8 times the size of the island of Ireland (84,409km2). It is bordered by Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Ukraine and Moldova and has access to the Black Sea with a coastline of 225km. It is a Democratic Republic with a population of 19 million people (more than Hungary and Bulgaria combined).
An estimated 61.7% of its 23.8 million hectares (m ha)is designated as agricultural land. Of this 14.7 m ha, 9.4 m (64%) is classed as arable but only about 7.5 m ha are currently in production.
Romania has excellent land for crop production. It has adequate rainfall in some regions but it also has access to the Danube and many other major rivers for irrigation. Despite this, average yield levels for most crops fall below the EU average but this is changing. It has 1,100km of access to the Danube, an important artery for trade and transport.
Natural water can be yield limiting. Climate is largely continental but there are significant variations within the country. Growing conditions might be described as temperate in the northwest and west to semi arid in the extreme southeast. Rainfall levels tend to decrease from west to east and from mountain to plain. Rainfall in the southern Danube plain towards the southwest would average 550-600mm per annum while the southeast would be closer to 400mm. Annual temperature can range from -30oC to +40oC.
Impact of CAP
Romania is a net beneficiary under the CAP regime 2014-2020. They receive basic farm payments and the average payment is €160/ha. Farmers have received assistance in purchasing new agricultural equipment, as well as infrastructural, training and other measures to improve farm efficiency and output from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.
While these EAFRD grants can cover up to 70% of the cost of equipment, the farmer must come up with the difference and this remains a challenge for many farmers. Up to recently the financial institutions were poorly resourced to deal with the agricultural sector at farm level but this situation is steadily improving. Most banks now have packages geared towards providing leasing and loan facilities to commercial farmers.
It would be expected, now that Romania has gained a great deal of experience in processing grant applications and that the financial institutions are now on board, that absorption rates will increase for the period 2014-2020 and that significant tranches of money will be available for capital expenditure.
Crop make-up
The country grows a variety of crops but wheat and maize make up over 85% of the cereals area. The total cereals area is about 5.3 m ha, followed by oilseeds with 1.5 m ha. There are about 4.86m ha in pastures and meadows and the remaining 3% of area is split equally between vineyards and orchards.
Romania has the highest area sown to maize in the EU at almost 2.5 m ha and is the fourth biggest producer of wheat. But, for the moment at least, the yields from these crops in Romania are less than half the EU average.
This is mainly due to the fragmented nature of production and lack of inputs, especially fertilisers and machinery. However, better farm units are now pushing well up towards EU norms. That said, grain output is expected to be back by up to 20% this year as a result of severe drought in the early part of the season.
To say that Romania was not what I might have expected is an understatement. Preconceived ideas of a poorly functioning agriculture immersed in rural poverty proved hugely inaccurate.
I have been to many countries thanks to the Farmers Journal and the Irish Tillage and Land Use Society but I was very impressed by plains of land that stretched to infinity in Romania and yield levels that could make many Irish farmers envious.
In late June I took the ITLUS tour to Romania, a venue chosen not because of its history, size or culture but rather because it had become one of the biggest grain exporting states in the EU. This was no small achievement given that it is barely a decade in the EU and there are still significant signs of subsistence agriculture. But there is also plentiful evidence of a thriving crop agriculture using huge fields and solid infrastructure.
A mass of poles and pylons emphasise the flatness of the plains that stretch beyond the horizon in both directions.
Quad-tracks side by side with horses and carts best describe current day agriculture in Romania. We toured the eastern side of the country only and the density of horse powered transport using the four wheeled caruta increased as we moved north. But perhaps it would not be sensible to equate the presence of carutas with poverty as these were industrious people who seemed to work hard to help make ends meet but they lacked disposable income.
One of the first impressions of the country, as seen on Google earth, is the use of strip agriculture, especially close to towns and villages. This is very much a legacy of the distribution of the land to the people following the collapse of communism. We were never left in any doubt as to the attitude of the people to communism and the historic influence exerted by Russia.
Following the collapse of the USSR the country’s land was given to those who had worked it. As a consequence, land ownership is hugely fragmented with the average farm size being less than 2.3ha. An estimated four million people are officially classed as deriving all or part of their income from agriculture. However consolidation into larger commercial units is on-going, a process referred to locally as compaction.
The farming of the land in sprips is sometimes very evident as one looks towards the horizon.
Infrastructure and climate
When we arrived in Bucharest we were invited to a reception hosted by the Irish Ambassador, Derek Feely. As well as generating a sense of home, the occasion provided us with a great opportunity to meet with many of those who we would subsequently visit. It also provided us with information that would help us understand what we were to see during our travels.
Hugh Beirne from Avalon Comp gave us a brief rundown on agriculture in Romania which is a country of 238,391 km2. This is 2.8 times the size of the island of Ireland (84,409km2). It is bordered by Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Ukraine and Moldova and has access to the Black Sea with a coastline of 225km. It is a Democratic Republic with a population of 19 million people (more than Hungary and Bulgaria combined).
An estimated 61.7% of its 23.8 million hectares (m ha)is designated as agricultural land. Of this 14.7 m ha, 9.4 m (64%) is classed as arable but only about 7.5 m ha are currently in production.
Romania has excellent land for crop production. It has adequate rainfall in some regions but it also has access to the Danube and many other major rivers for irrigation. Despite this, average yield levels for most crops fall below the EU average but this is changing. It has 1,100km of access to the Danube, an important artery for trade and transport.
Natural water can be yield limiting. Climate is largely continental but there are significant variations within the country. Growing conditions might be described as temperate in the northwest and west to semi arid in the extreme southeast. Rainfall levels tend to decrease from west to east and from mountain to plain. Rainfall in the southern Danube plain towards the southwest would average 550-600mm per annum while the southeast would be closer to 400mm. Annual temperature can range from -30oC to +40oC.
Impact of CAP
Romania is a net beneficiary under the CAP regime 2014-2020. They receive basic farm payments and the average payment is €160/ha. Farmers have received assistance in purchasing new agricultural equipment, as well as infrastructural, training and other measures to improve farm efficiency and output from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.
While these EAFRD grants can cover up to 70% of the cost of equipment, the farmer must come up with the difference and this remains a challenge for many farmers. Up to recently the financial institutions were poorly resourced to deal with the agricultural sector at farm level but this situation is steadily improving. Most banks now have packages geared towards providing leasing and loan facilities to commercial farmers.
It would be expected, now that Romania has gained a great deal of experience in processing grant applications and that the financial institutions are now on board, that absorption rates will increase for the period 2014-2020 and that significant tranches of money will be available for capital expenditure.
Crop make-up
The country grows a variety of crops but wheat and maize make up over 85% of the cereals area. The total cereals area is about 5.3 m ha, followed by oilseeds with 1.5 m ha. There are about 4.86m ha in pastures and meadows and the remaining 3% of area is split equally between vineyards and orchards.
Romania has the highest area sown to maize in the EU at almost 2.5 m ha and is the fourth biggest producer of wheat. But, for the moment at least, the yields from these crops in Romania are less than half the EU average.
This is mainly due to the fragmented nature of production and lack of inputs, especially fertilisers and machinery. However, better farm units are now pushing well up towards EU norms. That said, grain output is expected to be back by up to 20% this year as a result of severe drought in the early part of the season.
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