Romania Can Become A Force In Agriculture, Says President Iohannis

The president stressed that Romania holds the sixth-largest agricultural area in the European Union and that it is one of the top 10 exporters of wheat and corn worldwide, which only demonstrates the country’s huge agricultural potential.

Iohannis pointed out that agri-food products imports increased by 17% in the first half of 2017 compared with 2016, but exports increased only by 4,5%, which led to a commercial deficit of over EUR1 billion solely from agricultural products. He said Romania should break the „vicious circle” of exporting bulk agricultural commodities and importing high value products.

The president said that one of the leading problems that Romanian farmers are facing is that small farms are prevalent in Romania, as 98% of the total number of Romania farms have an average size of under 10 hectares. He underscored that the government should encourage small and medium farmers to form associations so that they increase their competitiveness and productivity.