Locul României pe piaţa europeană a legumelor şi fructelor

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Agricultural products: Fruits and Vegetables

(Synthesis of the study drawn up by the Romanian Trade Promotion Centre)

Romania on the European Fruit and Vegetables Market

According to the statistical data provided by Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) Romania had, in 2004, an important position among the other European countries, concerning the cultivated area with fruit and vegetables:

Ø the sixth position regarding potatoes, after Russian Federation, Ukraine, Poland, Belarus and Germany

Ø the sixth position regarding vegetables and melons, after Russian Federation, Italy, Ukraine, France and Spain

Ø the seventh position regarding fruit, after Spain, Italy, France, Russian Federation, Serbia-Montenegro and Ukraine.

Concerning the level of production, Romania ranked:

Ø the ninth position regarding potatoes, after Russian Federation, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Belarus, Netherlands, France and United Kingdom

Ø the seventh position regarding vegetables and melons, after Russian Federation, Italy, Spain, France, Ukraine and Poland

Ø the eighth position regarding fruit, after Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Greece, Russian Federation and Poland.

Characteristics of Natural Resources

Romania has an advantageous structure of land fund. By use, in 2004, the agricultural area accounted for a share of 61.6 per cent of the land fund.

Cultivated Area, by Main Crops 2000 - 2004

Thousand hectares

	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Cultivated area, of which:	8499.8	8905.0	9001.6	8880.6	8255.6
Leguminous crops, of which:	41.3	35.6	45.3	46.8	44.8
Peas	13.1	11.7	16.1	18.8	18.0
Beans	26.2	21.5	27.0	27.3	26.0
Potatoes	282.7	276.7	283.2	282.0	280.0
Vegetables, of which:	234.0	229.2	236.3	241.9	248.0
Tomatoes	47.6	45.9	48.3	49.3	49.0
Onions	37.1	37.1	38.0	26.9	36.5
Cabbages	39.5	39.8	40.4	42.2	42.0
Edible roots	24.5	24.2	24.7	25.2	…
Bearing strawberry fields	2.4	2.1	2.1	2.4	1.9
Bearing orchards	194.3	195.6	188.2	191.6	190.2

Source: National Institute of Statistics - Romanian Statistical Yearbook 2004 and FAO Database

In 2004, cultivated area amounted to 8255.6 thousand hectares, with a share of the arable area of 94.6 per cent. The largest part of it was cultivated with potatoes, accounting for a share of 3.3 per cent in 2004. Cultivated area with vegetables accounted for 3.0 per cent of the total cultivated area in the same year.

The share of orchards and nurseries area increased from 1.54 per cent in 2003 to 1.65 per cent in 2004, in the total agricultural area. Bearing orchards amounted to 190.2 thousand hectares, accounting for a share of 78.2 per cent of the orchards and nurseries total area in 2004.

In 2004, the most of the cultivated area was private ownership.

Romanian Supply of Fruit and Vegetables

Although Romania has an important agricultural potential, over the review period agricultural production had a different evolution due to climatic conditions (drought and floods) and the specific agricultural works.

Fruit and Vegetables Production 2000 – 2004

Thousand tonnes