b"WAITING FOR THE RAINA CLOSE LOOK AT THE ROMANIAN SEED SECTOR.BY: ALEXANDRU GRIGORIEVR omania is one of the most important EU countries in termsGRAPH 1: ACREAGE OF THE MAIN AGRICULTURAL of agricultural potential. The temperate continental cli- CROPS IN ROMANIA IN 2020.mate, as well as the special quality of the soil in many regions, have made agriculture one of the main economic activ-2.56 MILLION HA. ities in the area. According to historical sources, two millennia ago, wheat 1.2 MILLION HA. crops in the north of the Danube were famous, as were flocks 2.16 MILLION HA. of sheep. Romania's relief is very balanced, being divided into almost equal parts between mountains, hills, and plains. Also, the rich hydrographic network makes farming relatively easy.Out of a total of almost 24 million hectares of the country, 14.77 million is agricultural area. Approximately 9.45 million, 287,000 HA.350,000 HA. i.e., 39 per cent of the entire territory, is covered by arable land, according to data provided by the National Institute of Statistics. 160,000 HA. The main crops are cereals, technical and industrial plants, but also vines, orchards and pastures. An overview of the main agri-cultural crops can be found in Graph 1.LACK OF IRRIGATION AND EXTREME POLARIZATIONAn essential problem of Romanian agriculture is the lack ofWHEAT MAIZE BARLEY SUNFLOWER RAPESEED SOYBEANSsufficient irrigation systems. In the south (especially along the Danube), such systems were developed, but in the rest of the territory they are rare and inefficient. TABLE 1: COMPARISON OF TOTAL PRODUCTION At the beginning of this year almost 1.3 million hectares ofOBTAINED IN 2019 AND 2020. arable land were arranged for irrigation, but until March thereTotalTotal amount were contracts concluded for only 681,397 of them, accordingSurfaceproductiontraded outside to the data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralCrop Year (ha) (tons) the country (tons)Development. Wheat 2019 2168370 10297107 6186777Under these conditions, it is not surprising to see the varia- 2020 2145798 6410194 4352746tion in production, from one year to another, depending on rain- Maize 2019 2678504 17432223 6767244fall (see Table 1). The year 2020 was characterized by a severe drought, compared to the previous one, when the precipitation2020 2560041 10152641 5712603regime was normal. Barley 2019 285065 1340389 1126361Another major feature of Romanian agriculture is the2020 287778 829358 1311006extreme polarization in farm size. See graph 2.The largest agricultural holding in the European Union isSunflower 2019 1282697 3569150 2104662in Romania, the Great Island of Brila, which measures 56,0002020 1170372 2204312 1544548hectares. Rapeseed2019 352622 798215 460018All these listed characteristics make the agricultural activ- 2020 342601 727731 554779ity in Romania very diversified. Each type of farm has its specific needs, which determines the need for great flexibility of thoseSoybeans 2019 158149 415942 276493who provide inputs. 2020 164686 305816 16863820IEUROPEAN SEEDIEUROPEAN-SEED.COM"