Giurgiu, Ialomita, Calarasi, Constanta and Braila have turned into a local ‘Grain Belt’ after generating 80% of the average growth of the grain production in 2007-2013.
The five are the most important on the list of the eleven counties in Romania, whose average grain production in 2007-2013 was higher than the average of the previous seven years, 2000-2006.
The five counties in the Belt generated EUR100 million higher revenue for farmers, distributors and traders. The average growth in volume in the five stood at 600,000 tons.
“The production rise comes from big farms. Farmers invested in state-of-the-art equipment (…),” says Gheorghe Lamureanu, manager of Agroterra, a 1,400 hectare farm in Constanta County.
Constanta is the leader of production growth, 30%, followed by Ialomita, 27%.
The five southern and eastern counties are connected both geographically and by infrastructure: the A2 Bucharest-Constanta Highway, railroad and the Danube. Constanta is also the main exit point for the Romanian grain because of its harbor.
“Most farmers that have made investments in the last few years are those in the south and southeast areas, as well as in northwest of the country. They mainly invested in irrigation systems,” says Doriana Nitu, general manager of the local subsidiary of KWS, one of the top five seed suppliers in Romania.
The average local grain harvest stood at 15.8 million tons in 2007-2013 and at 16.5 million tons in 2000-2006. The grain market is the most important segment of the Romanian agriculture, generating EUR3.9 billion revenue last year, 13% less than in 2013, according to Eurostat.
Agriculture was a EUR17 billion business last year, driven by the bumper grain crops. The sector expects large wheat and barley crops this year, as well, though slightly lower than last year.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)