Insights into the Romanian Agricultural Post-Socialist Transition to Sustainability on the European Open Market

Vasile ZOTIC1, Diana-Elena ALEXANDRU1, Ioana SCRIDON1
1 Babeş-Bolyai University, Faculty of Geography, Centre for Research on Settlements and Urbanism, Cluj-Napoca, ROMANIA
E-mail: zoticv@geografie.ubbcluj.ro, diana.alexandru@geografie.ubbcluj.ro, ioana.scridon@ubbcluj.ro
Pages: 139-163

Abstract. Our approach highlights the nexus between the national statutory laws on the Romanian agriculture over a 20 year period and the structural changes in the agricultural land-use and holdings, thus outlining the fact that Romanian agriculture still is in a fully ongoing transitional phase. We concluded that the extended transition phase of Romanian agriculture could partly lead to increased territorial development disparities and to the impossibility of developing small farms due to excessive aging or even natural decease of landowners. Results prove the inconsistencies of land-use policy and bring out the most common land reform issues that have firstly led to excessive land fragmentation through legal individual ownership, low farm productivity and the inability of local producers to enter the open market as the national market is deeply monopolized by the strong food-products chain of supermarkets. Moreover, we are not able to develop distinctive or organic raw and processed local products and promote them on the national and European markets. The answer to the negative consequences of transitional agricultural development policies are synthetically presented and described through a set of possible measures to be taken and implemented in order to shorten the transition phase Romanian agriculture is still facing.

K e y w o r d s: structural changes, land fragmentation and individual ownership, land-use, agricultural transition, Romania