41.1 Introduction
This volume pays homage to our friend, adviser and collaborator, Alexandru
Bologa, on the occasion of his anniversary, which avails me of an opportunity to
tackle a most important subject in Romanian economics i.e. the use of the country’s
two most important resources: land and water, over the period between 1945
and 1989.
It is well known that following the end of WW2, Romania had been obliged to
adopt the Soviet planning system in the management of its economy. This was a
highly centralised, top-down and dictatorial system. In such a system, economic
policy decision making was the preserve of a restricted group of Communist Party
activists which became restricted, in the final years of the regime to just one person.
The economic policies of the Romanian Communist Party and of its leader,
Nicolae Ceausescu, were aimed at transforming an underdeveloped, agrarian country, into a developing industrial and agrarian powerhouse. To this end, the country’s
financial resources had been geared towards the advancement of heavy industry,
whereas the agricultural sector was demoted into a supporting role, providing the
nourishment of the country’s workforce while providing additional revenues by
exporting food abroad.
In order to achieve these objectives, arable lands had to be reclaimed by 1000
thousands ha and, to increase productivity more than 55% of it needed proper
irrigation. Yet, a mere three thousands ha were reclaimed in the process (with many
components missing from the system and of a poor technological quality at that)
which resulted in a failure to achieve the projected yields while the most adequate
crops for the quality of this land incurred losses instead of the profits that were
needed to support the country’s heavy industry.
As regards Romania’s second available resource, freshwater, this was equally
poorly managed to a degree where it failed in providing the yields needed to feed
the populace.
Compared to other countries, Romania has relatively modest freshwater
resources, which amount to some 39.78 billion m
3 (cubic meters). Yet, even these
resources would meet the country’s needs, if used rationally, given that these needs
do not exceed 50% of the existing resources (National Commission of Statistics
1990).
As regards salty water, this resource is still largely underused given its potential
contribution as a food resource. Romania’s Black Sea coastline, which is the
country’s Eastern (maritime) border, has a length of 244 km, yet, the share of the
marine products that could be used to feed the population is relatively small. While
the estimates point to animal products being the leading food resource globally,
only 3% of this (food) resource is provided by fishery products, including here,
marine fish.
662
A. Lup et al.
This volume pays homage to our friend, adviser and collaborator, Alexandru
Bologa, on the occasion of his anniversary, which avails me of an opportunity to
tackle a most important subject in Romanian economics i.e. the use of the country’s
two most important resources: land and water, over the period between 1945
and 1989.
It is well known that following the end of WW2, Romania had been obliged to
adopt the Soviet planning system in the management of its economy. This was a
highly centralised, top-down and dictatorial system. In such a system, economic
policy decision making was the preserve of a restricted group of Communist Party
activists which became restricted, in the final years of the regime to just one person.
The economic policies of the Romanian Communist Party and of its leader,
Nicolae Ceausescu, were aimed at transforming an underdeveloped, agrarian country, into a developing industrial and agrarian powerhouse. To this end, the country’s
financial resources had been geared towards the advancement of heavy industry,
whereas the agricultural sector was demoted into a supporting role, providing the
nourishment of the country’s workforce while providing additional revenues by
exporting food abroad.
In order to achieve these objectives, arable lands had to be reclaimed by 1000
thousands ha and, to increase productivity more than 55% of it needed proper
irrigation. Yet, a mere three thousands ha were reclaimed in the process (with many
components missing from the system and of a poor technological quality at that)
which resulted in a failure to achieve the projected yields while the most adequate
crops for the quality of this land incurred losses instead of the profits that were
needed to support the country’s heavy industry.
As regards Romania’s second available resource, freshwater, this was equally
poorly managed to a degree where it failed in providing the yields needed to feed
the populace.
Compared to other countries, Romania has relatively modest freshwater
resources, which amount to some 39.78 billion m
3 (cubic meters). Yet, even these
resources would meet the country’s needs, if used rationally, given that these needs
do not exceed 50% of the existing resources (National Commission of Statistics
1990).
As regards salty water, this resource is still largely underused given its potential
contribution as a food resource. Romania’s Black Sea coastline, which is the
country’s Eastern (maritime) border, has a length of 244 km, yet, the share of the
marine products that could be used to feed the population is relatively small. While
the estimates point to animal products being the leading food resource globally,
only 3% of this (food) resource is provided by fishery products, including here,
marine fish.
662
A. Lup et al.