little over half what would otherwise have been needed to irrigate these lands
properly. This dire situation was compounded by the fact that land irrigations did
not require consistent consumption levels over the entire duration of a year. As
such, there was an absolute need for irrigation during the summer season, comprising the interval June–August. Yet, considering the 1988–1989 period, more than
27% of the country’s energy production capacities at the time would have been
needed to achieve the proper irrigation of the country’s entire hectarage (Lup 1997).
(d) “Water losses per allotment.” To enable the water distribution on irrigated
lands there were reinforced concrete ditches being built. Yet, the joints of these
ditches were not properly sealed which resulted in great losses of water. Even
more water was wasted because of the poor quality of the aluminium pipes used
for this purpose (Lup 2012).
(e) “The penury of fertilizers.” Despite the fact that Romania’s chemical fertilizer
plants’ capacity was 4.5 million tonnes of active substances annually, the
highest production ever yielded occured in 1986, when 3278 thousands tonnes
were produced. On average, for the period 1985–‘89 some 15.092 thousands
tonnes of fertilizers were claimed to have been produced, i.e. 3018.4 thousands
tonnes annually, which would have provided 318 kgs of fertilizers per ha of
arable land. In reality though, the Romanian agricultural sector only received
1140 thousand tonnes, which meant 120 kgs of fertilizers per ha of arable land,
the rest of the production being exported. At the time, Western European
countries were using for their crops around 300–400 kgs of chemical fertilizers
(Lup 2014) per ha of arable land.
(f) “A variety of shortages compounding a host of managerial and organisational
deficiencies”. The entire period during which Romania’s agriculture had been
organised according to socialist principles was plagued by a multitude of
penuries, ranging from petrol and spare parts shortages, and the poor quality
of the machineries working the fields. All of these shortcomings are
compounded by frequent political interferences.
41.2.4 Irrigation Efficiency
When all these technological deficiencies are added up they are ultimately reflected
in low yields and an overall poor economic performance particularly when considering Romania’s freshwater resources.
The figures in the table below show that the inadequacy of the main production
factors, which were compounded by managerial mistakes, brought about significant
losses not just to the agricultural production cooperatives and the people working
there, but to the Romanian state also (Table 41.4).
To add insult to injury, beyond the losses that these agricultural cooperatives
were registering, they were being penalised twice after being denied their due
supplementary income – which was made dependent on their meeting the planned
41 Land and Water in Romania’s Food Economy
673
properly. This dire situation was compounded by the fact that land irrigations did
not require consistent consumption levels over the entire duration of a year. As
such, there was an absolute need for irrigation during the summer season, comprising the interval June–August. Yet, considering the 1988–1989 period, more than
27% of the country’s energy production capacities at the time would have been
needed to achieve the proper irrigation of the country’s entire hectarage (Lup 1997).
(d) “Water losses per allotment.” To enable the water distribution on irrigated
lands there were reinforced concrete ditches being built. Yet, the joints of these
ditches were not properly sealed which resulted in great losses of water. Even
more water was wasted because of the poor quality of the aluminium pipes used
for this purpose (Lup 2012).
(e) “The penury of fertilizers.” Despite the fact that Romania’s chemical fertilizer
plants’ capacity was 4.5 million tonnes of active substances annually, the
highest production ever yielded occured in 1986, when 3278 thousands tonnes
were produced. On average, for the period 1985–‘89 some 15.092 thousands
tonnes of fertilizers were claimed to have been produced, i.e. 3018.4 thousands
tonnes annually, which would have provided 318 kgs of fertilizers per ha of
arable land. In reality though, the Romanian agricultural sector only received
1140 thousand tonnes, which meant 120 kgs of fertilizers per ha of arable land,
the rest of the production being exported. At the time, Western European
countries were using for their crops around 300–400 kgs of chemical fertilizers
(Lup 2014) per ha of arable land.
(f) “A variety of shortages compounding a host of managerial and organisational
deficiencies”. The entire period during which Romania’s agriculture had been
organised according to socialist principles was plagued by a multitude of
penuries, ranging from petrol and spare parts shortages, and the poor quality
of the machineries working the fields. All of these shortcomings are
compounded by frequent political interferences.
41.2.4 Irrigation Efficiency
When all these technological deficiencies are added up they are ultimately reflected
in low yields and an overall poor economic performance particularly when considering Romania’s freshwater resources.
The figures in the table below show that the inadequacy of the main production
factors, which were compounded by managerial mistakes, brought about significant
losses not just to the agricultural production cooperatives and the people working
there, but to the Romanian state also (Table 41.4).
To add insult to injury, beyond the losses that these agricultural cooperatives
were registering, they were being penalised twice after being denied their due
supplementary income – which was made dependent on their meeting the planned
41 Land and Water in Romania’s Food Economy
673