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ASE rector, Nicolae Istudor: Romania, high agricultural potential, too much rapeseed not good for food security.
The agricultural area used in 2020 in Romania was nearly 13.6 million hectares, of which nearly 9 million hectares is arable land, Nicolae Istudor, rector of the Bucharest University of Economic Studies (ASE), said on Tuesday at the annual National Bank of Romania (BNR)-ASE conference on "Navigating through overlapping crises", noting that lately he has seen too much yellow on the fields, namely rapeseed.
"As a specialist in agricultural economics, please allow me to make a few comments on the food crisis. And I start with an observation: our country should not be targeted by such a crisis. I mean, jokingly, and please allow me, we will not have to eat insects, provided that we make intelligent use of the agricultural potential we have, by providing raw materials for animal husbandry and the domestic food industry and by stepping up food production, which should contribute to increasing added value. This means new agricultural policies adapted to new times. A country's agricultural production is the main source of national food security, and the extent to which food security is achieved through own production shows the degree of food self-sufficiency. The degree of food self-sufficiency differs from one country to another depending on the agricultural potential, namely the area of agricultural land. In terms of agricultural potential, Romania has a high agricultural potential, demonstrated by the agricultural area used amounting to almost 13.6 million hectares in 2020, of which more than 65 percent, namely almost 9 million hectares, is arable land, according to Eurostat data. Lately, I have been driving around the country more and I don't like what I see. I see too much yellow on the fields, which means rapeseed. I don't know if this is really good for us and for food security," said Nicolae Istudor.
He noted that the National Institute of Statistics (INS) data shows that in 2021 the average production per hectare was 4,797 kg for wheat, 5,802 kg for corn, 4,408 kg for barley and barley.
Nicolae Istudor said that in Romania the degree of self-sufficiency is over 100 percent for cereals and cereal products, over 80 percent for potatoes and vegetables, milk and dairy products, eggs, poultry meat and animal and vegetable fats. The degree of self-sufficiency is very low for pork and beef, fruit, fish and sugar.
He also said that our country's food security is a matter of distribution and not of availability, and in these circumstances, efforts should be directed towards the creation and consolidation of agricultural organizations of optimal size, viable, with the aim of producing qualitatively homogeneous and qualitatively and quantitatively competitive products. He went on to say that an efficient distribution strategy for these products should be developed and implemented.
