Thus, each tractor in Poland covers an area of around ten hectares, while in Romania each tractor is in charge with a five times larger area.
Moreover, although both countries have over 2 million people working in agriculture, in Romania there is a tractor for every 16 farmers, while in Poland the ratio is eight times lower, namely a tractor for every two farmers.
The impact of agriculture mechanization in Poland is visible considering harvests are double the harvests of Romania.
Data show that Romanian farming products are competing with those of the Netherlands, Germany, Poland or Spain on international markets, but many Romanian farmers are still working their land without agricultural machinery.
The situation of the domestic tractor fleet may be even more serious considering Interior Ministry data show around 50,000 tractors were registered last year, while the latest data provided by the National Statistics Institute put the total number of tractors in 2009 at 175,000.
“The gaps are due to many tractors not being registered,” explains a farmer of Giurgiu.
While the total number of tractors is unclear, what is certain is that the agricultural machinery stock is obsolete and undersized.
Major farmers say, though, that agricultural machinery is vital in a farm irrespective of its size.
Both Culita Tarata and Stefan Poienaru have chosen tractors manufactured in Italy or the US as the domestic agricultural machinery industry currently produces around 1,000 units each year, according to the estimates by the Association of Producers and Importers of Agricultural Machinery in Romania (APIMAR).
“Around 10,000 tractors are sold in Romania per year, but only 1,000 are produced or assembled here,” explains Mihai Ivascu, marketing manager of the association.