Conventional (non-genetically modified) soy production is thus taking the first steps towards a presence in the business plans of Romanian farmers eight years after the banning of the genetically modified soy crops in Romania.
“The production potential is high, production is up 19% in the Danube region,” said Ursula Bittner, manager of Danube Soya, a regional organization promoting non-GMO soy at an event organized by the Austrian Economic Chamber (WKO) in Vienna.
Production potential for the European market stands at 5 million tons a year and there is also potential for processing, she added.
Soybean is a EUR40 million business a year on average for Romanian farmers, but the production is at less than 10% of its potential at the moment. Soy crops cover only 86,000 hectares in Romania.
The European Union is the world’s second largest importer of soybean, which it mostly uses as livestock feed. It will remain a net importer in the future, but non-GMO soy will be best suited for use as feed by farms that position themselves on the traditional segment.
Revenue per hectare of soy is now comparable with the revenue per hectare of rapeseed, one of the most profitable local crops.
Prices on the international market received a boost from the surge in demand from China and Romanian farmers stand a chance of benefiting from it.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)