Chapter 41
Land and Water in Romania’s Food Economy
Aurel Lup, Indira Deniz Alim, and Liliana Miron
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 km
2 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.
Keywords Romania • Land • Water • Land reclamation • Foodstuffs
A. Lup (*)
Academy of Romanian Scientists, Bucharest, Romania
e-mail: lupaurel@yahoo.com
I.D. Alim • L. Miron
Ovidius University of Constanta, Constanta, Romania
e-mail: alimindira@yahoo.com
© Springer International Publishing AG 2018
C.W. Finkl, C. Makowski (eds.), Diversity in Coastal Marine Sciences, Coastal
Research Library 23, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57577-3_41
661
Land and Water in Romania’s Food Economy
Aurel Lup, Indira Deniz Alim, and Liliana Miron
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 km
2 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.
Keywords Romania • Land • Water • Land reclamation • Foodstuffs
A. Lup (*)
Academy of Romanian Scientists, Bucharest, Romania
e-mail: lupaurel@yahoo.com
I.D. Alim • L. Miron
Ovidius University of Constanta, Constanta, Romania
e-mail: alimindira@yahoo.com
© Springer International Publishing AG 2018
C.W. Finkl, C. Makowski (eds.), Diversity in Coastal Marine Sciences, Coastal
Research Library 23, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57577-3_41
661