Archive:Agricultural census in Romania
- Data from November 2012. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.
This article is part of a series of country-specific essays on the results of the European Union (EU) Farm structure survey (FSS) 2010. The FSS collects information on the structural characteristics of the agricultural holdings (land use, livestock and labour force) and is carried out every 10 years as an Agricultural census by all the EU Member States, with two or three additional, intermediate sample surveys carried out in-between. In Romania, the Agricultural census 2010 was the second one to be fully harmonised with the EU regulations and the first one to be conducted after the country’s accession to the European Union in 2007. The present analysis of the farm structure includes a comparison with the previous (2002) Agricultural census. Although the reference years of the Agricultural census in Romania were 2002 and 2010 respectively, the common designation is Agricultural census 2000 and 2010.
Source: Eurostat (ef_kvaareg) (ef_ov_kvaa) (demo_pjan) and FSS 2003 and 2010
Source: Eurostat (ef_kvaareg) (ef_ov_kvaa) and FSS 2003 and 2010
_by_UAA_size_classes_RO_2010.PNG)
Source: Eurostat (ef_kvaareg) (ef_ov_kvaa)
Source: Eurostat (ef_kvftreg)
Source: Eurostat (ef_lu_ovcropaa) (ef_oluaareg)
Source: Eurostat (ef_lu_ovcropaa) (ef_oluaareg)
Source: Eurostat (ef_mptenure)
Source: Source: Eurostat (ef_pmhouscatlaa)
Main statistical findings
Key indicators
About 3.8 million agricultural holdings were recorded in Romania in 2010; this value, which indicated a 14 % decrease compared to 2000 (- 625 850 farms), was by far the highest one recorded within the EU-27.
As exhibited in Table 1, also the utilised agricultural area (UAA) indicated a remarkable value (13.3 million ha), which was found to be similar to the one recorded in Poland (14.4 million ha) and Italy (12.8 million ha). Despite the fact that it lost 624 580 hectares (-4.5 %) over the inter-census timeframe, in relative terms, the agricultural area covered 56 % of the Romanian territory in 2010.
Given that the fall in the number of holdings was sharper than the decrease in the agricultural land, the average area per farm slightly increased (+ 11 %): from 3.1 hectares per farm in 2000 to 3.4 ha per holding in 2010. This phenomenon, which was commonly observed throughout the EU-27, appeared to be weaker in Romania than in the majority of the EU Member States.
In Romania, the number of regular farm employees was found to be remarkably high, as about 7.1 million people were found to be working in agriculture in 2010. Between the two reference years, the regular agricultural labour force dropped by 19.4 % – in relative terms, about 1.7 million persons stopped working on the farms. Nonetheless, the Romanian agricultural labour force represented 76 % of the active population[1] in 2010, by far the highest shares recorded among the EU Member States.
In absolute terms, the livestock population – expressed in livestock units (LSU) – dropped by about 1.8 LSU over the period under analysis. However, 5.4 million LSU were recorded in Romania in 2010; from among the other EU Member States, Ireland (5.8 million LSU) and Denmark (4.9 million LSU) recorded similar values.
Regional key indicators
Presenting the regional peculiarities, Table 2 provides further insight into the structure of the Romanian agriculture. The region “Sud – Muntenia” recorded the highest number of holdings (800 830), accounting for 20.8 % of the entire population of farms in Romania. The “Nord – Est” territory registered a slightly smaller number (790 790), accounting for 20.5 % of the farm population. On the opposite end of the scale, the metropolitan area of “Bucuresti – Ilfov” recorded the smallest number (33 490) and accounted for a marginal 0.9 %; in 2000, its share was bigger (1.6 %), with 71 780 holdings recorded within its borders.
Also in terms of the agricultural area, the region of “Sud – Muntenia” recorded the highest share (17.5 %), corresponding to 2.3 million hectares. In 2010, the territory of “Sud – Est” registered the second widest agricultural area (2.2 million ha) and accounted for 16.5 % of the Romanian UAA: +45 200 hectares compared to 2000. Although it fell below the 2 million hectares threshold between the two reference years, the “Nord – Est” territory recorded the third largest agricultural land (1.9 million ha) and accounted for 14.6 % of the country’s agricultural area in 2010. As regards the number of farms, taking into account the agricultural area, the capital region of “Bucuresti – Ilfov” proved to have a marginal share of 0.5 %: the UAA recorded within its borders more than halved over the inter-census period, from 210 970 ha to 62 450 ha.
According to the FSS 2010, the “Nord – Est” region was the only Romanian territory which recorded the livestock unit (LSU) of over a million in 2010. Hence, it accounted for 18.4 % of the farm animal population – the corresponding share (18.7 %) was slightly higher in 2000. The second highest population of livestock in Romania (16 %) was recorded within the borders of “Sud – Muntenia” (869 440 LSU). In 2000, the aforementioned region shared 17.3 % and indicated the value of 1.2 million LSU (+385 170 LSU). The “Sud – Est” (800 190 LSU) and the “Nord – Vest” (769 190 LSU) regions recorded similar shares – 14.7 % in the south-eastern territory, 14.1 % in the north-western one – and both showed signs of decrease compared to 2000.
Also in terms of the labour force, the territories of “Nord – Est” and “Sud – Mutenia” proved to be the most important ones in 2010. In particular, the north-eastern region accounted for 20.5 % of the Romanian agricultural labour force, since about 1.5 million people were found to be regularly working on the farms within its territory (-280 420 persons compared to 2000). In the region of “Sud – Mutenia”, the regular agricultural labour force indicated the value of 1.4 million and accounted for 20.3 %; a very similar share (20.2 %) was registered in 2000.
Agricultural holdings
In Romania, about 2.9 million farms were found to have less than 2 hectares of agricultural land in 2010. Despite the fact that they accounted for 74 % of the entire population of farms, these holdings proved to cover a minor 13 % of the country’s UAA. On the other end of the scale, agricultural holdings with 50 hectares or more of UAA were found to account for 53 % of the whole agricultural area, although they represented only 1 % of the Romanian population of farms.
As exhibited in Figure 1, also agricultural holdings with 2 to 4.9 hectares of agricultural land recorded remarkable values: they indicated the value of 727 390 – 19 % of the whole population of farms – and were found to cover about 2.2 million hectares of UAA (17 %) in 2010.
The strong fragmentation of the structure of the Romanian agriculture partially derives from the agrarian reform which took place during the 1990’s. This process, which had a slow course and lasted until 2005, deeply changed the structure of the agricultural land as the private agricultural area increased from about 15 % in 1989 to 55 % in 2002. In particular, the privatisation process lead to the parcelling of land into small pieces on the one hand, and the establishment of large commercial enterprises on the other hand (Banski, J.) [2].
See detailed data at NUTS 2 level for 2000 and2010
Economic size of the farm
As presented in Table 3, the economic size of all the Romanian agricultural holdings indicated the value of EUR 10 420 million in 2010. This figure, which is calculated by adding all the standard output (SO) per hectare of crop and per head of livestock of the farms, represented a 3 % increase compared to 2007: among the other EU Member States, the Netherlands (EUR 18 929 million) and Denmark (EUR 8 490 million) recorded similar values.
In Romania, agricultural holdings with an economic size of less than EUR 8 000 were found to be the most important ones. In 2010, they indicated the value of EUR 5 210 million and accounted for half of the SO of the country; compared to 2007, they recorded a decrease of 11 % (- EUR 953 million). On the other end of the scale, the biggest class of farms – holdings with EUR 500 000 or more of SO – indicated the value of EUR 1 928 million and were found to share 18 % of the Romanian standard output. Over the 2007-2010 timeframe, the aforementioned class of farms recorded a remarkable increase (+ EUR 953 million) and doubled its value.
Among the different regions, the territory of “Sud – Muntenia” registered the highest figure (EUR 1 891), corresponding to 18.1 % of the Romanian standard output. The “Sud – Est” (EUR 1 740) and the “Nord – Est” (EUR 1 701) territories recorded very similar values and both accounted for about 16 % of the country’s standard output in 2010. On the opposite end of the scale, the metropolitan area of “Bucuresti – Ilfov” recorded the lowest share (0.9 %) and was the only territory not to register a double digit share.
See detailed data at NUTS 2 level for 2010 and 2007
Agricultural holding by main type of farming
As exhibited in Figure 2, if the main type of farming is taken into account, holdings specialised in various crops and livestock combined proved to be the most common: they represented 16 % of the total population of farms in 2010. The second most common type of farms were those specialised in general field cropping (15 %), followed by farms dedicated to poultry (11 %), various granivores combined (10 %) and holdings specialised in mixed, mainly grazing, livestock (10 %).
In terms of the economic size, the ranking of the holdings looks different, as farms specialised in cereals, oilseed and protein crops (15 %) were found to be the most important. Farms dedicated to mixed livestock, mainly grazing livestock, recorded a very similar share (14 %), followed by both holdings dedicated to sheep, goat and other grazing livestock (11 %), and farms dedicated to various crops and livestock combined (11 %).
See detailed data at NUTS 2 level for 2010
Land use
The Utilised Agricultural Area (UAA) is the total area taken up by arable land, permanent grassland and meadow, permanent crops and kitchen gardens, which is used by the holding, regardless of the type of tenure or whether it is used as a part of common land.
Covering about 96 % of the Romanian agricultural area, arable land and permanent grassland and meadow were found to be its main components in 2010. Although they both recorded a decrease, their shares over the total agricultural land remained quite stable over the years. In absolute terms, arable land lost 467 330 hectares, whereas the area of permanent grassland and meadow decreased by 137 750 hectares.
See detailed data at NUTS 2 level for 2000 and 2010
Arable land
In 2010, arable land was essentially taken up by cereals, industrial crops, fallow land and fodder crops. The area dedicated to the production of cereals recorded the value of 4.9 million hectares, though it indicated a loss of 1 million hectares compared to 2000. On the contrary, industrial crops gained about 400 000 hectares over the period under analysis, indicating the value of 1.5 million ha in 2010. Fallow land, which is the land that was not seeded during the reference period, was found to cover 952 520 hectares and gained 160 960 ha over the period under analysis; fodder crops took up further 670 770 hectares and recorded a smaller gain (+95 870 ha).
See detailed data at NUTS 2 level for 2000 and 2010
Permanent grassland
In 2010, the area dedicated to permanent grassland and meadow was found to cover 4.5 million hectares of agricultural land (33.9 %). Pasture and meadow represented the main components of permanent grassland and indicated the value of 3.8 million hectares in 2010, having decreased by 388 000 hectares over the inter-census timeframe. The remaining two components – rough grazing (2.3 %) and permanent grass land and meadow not used for production and eligible for subsidies (3.2 %) – displayed minor shares over the total UAA (see Table 4).
See detailed data at NUTS 2 level for 2000 and 2010
Livestock
Statistics on livestock use two different units of measurement: the number of heads (number of animals) and the livestock unit (LSU) – the latter allows comparison between different types of livestock.
About 5.4 million LSU were recorded in Romania in 2010, which indicated a 25 % decrease compared to 2000 (- 1.8 million LSU). Despite the fact that they showed a considerable decline (28 %), the cattle were found to be the most important livestock as they represented 31 % of the entire population of farm animals in 2010 (1.7 million LSU). Pigs had the second highest share (1.4 million LSU) and accounted for one fourth of the entire population of farm animals; however, they recorded a -26 % decrease compared to 2000. Other remarkable shares were registered by poultry (17.7 %) and sheep (15.5 %); while poultry experienced a severe decrease (-34 %), sheep actually increased by 16 % between the two reference years.
Within the 2000-2010 timeframe, the fall in the number of livestock (-24.9 %) was sharper than the decrease in the Romanian population (-1.4 %). As a result, the number of livestock per inhabitant dropped, from 0.33 to 0.25. Similarly, the number of holdings with livestock decreased (-36 %) more than the total population of farms (-14 %). Hence, the ratio of farms with livestock to the population of agricultural holdings dropped, from 98.4 % in 2000 to 73.5 % in 2010. However, Romania still remained one the EU-27 countries with highest number of farms with livestock.
Similarly to many other European Member States, the decrease in the number of farms with livestock in Romania was not evenly distributed among the population of farms. Indeed, it mostly characterized small sized farms, while holdings with 15 LSU or more recorded an opposite trend and increased in number. In particular, farms with 50 to 99 LSU recorded the highest increase, more than doubling their number, from 1 670 farms in 2000 to 3 530 in 2010.
The regional analysis brings insight into the territorial distribution of livestock and shows that one forth (24.6 %) of the Romanian livestock was farmed within the North-eastern territory in 2010. If pigs are taken into account, the regions of “Sud – Munteia” (17.6 %) and “Sud – Est” (17.2 %) proved to be the most important ones.
See detailed data at Nuts 2 level for 2010 and 2000
Labour force
According to the FSS 2010, 1.1 million people were regularly working in the agricultural sector in Hungary (see Table 6). As observed in many EU Member States, also in Hungary the agricultural labour force decreased (-21.9 %) over the period under analysis: in absolute terms, 321 190 persons stopped working on the farms between 2003 and 2010. The fall in the agricultural labour force looks very similar if the annual work unit (AWU) is taken into account, in which case figures changed from 511 070 AWU in 2003 to 402 970 AWU in 2010 (- 21.1%).
The gender cleavage among the sole holders showed signs of reduction, as 79 % of the sole holders proved to be men in 2003, whereas the male share indicated the value of 77 % in 2010.
See detailed data at NUTS 2 level on holders' age and gender for 2010 and 2003
See detailed data at NUTS 2 level on type of labour force for 2010 and 2003
Management practices
Type of tenure
As exhibited in Table 7, half of the Hungarian agricultural land (2.3 million ha) proved to be farmed by the tenants in 2010. Furthermore, most of the regions recorded shares higher than the national average, with the only exceptions being the territories of Észak-Alföld (43.2 %) and Dél-Alföld (41.2 %).
On the contrary, about 2 million hectares of Hungarian agricultural land (43.5 %) were found to be farmed by the people who actually owned that land in 2010: the highest shares were recorded in the Northern Great Plain (50.1 %) and the Southern Great Plain (52.9 %).
The land utilised in partnership by the landlord and the sharecropper under a written or oral share-farming contract was found to cover a mere 6.5 %.
Animal housing
According to the Agricultural census 2010, there were 19 120 holdings farming 707 400 heads of cattle in Hungary; from among the other European Member States, Sweden (21 590) and Norway (16 900) recorded similar values.
In terms of the number of farms, the most common type of animal housing was found to be the one recorded under the general “other” category (9 190 holdings), followed by the housing where the cattle are tied stable with solid dung and liquid manure, which was recorded in 8 030 holdings.
On the contrary, if the number of places is taken into account, the housing where the animals are free to move with solid dung and liquid manure was found to be the most common (354 620 places). When analysing data on animal housing, it must be noted that holdings could record more than one type of housing.
Other gainful activities
According to the FSS 2010, there were 47 270 farms with other gainful activities in Hungary. These holdings, which accounted for 8 % of the entire population of farms, registered activities other than farm work, directly related to the holding and having an economic impact on it; within the context of the EU-27, France (48 350) and Norway (25 500) recorded similar values.
Information on other gainful activities was collected by eleven category types depending on their characteristics – one holding could register more than one activity. Processing of farm products (26 430 farms) proved to be the most common type of extra activity, followed by contractual work (13 450 farms), which could take the form of contractual agricultural work (13 160) and contractual non-agricultural work (2 330 farms).
Among the Hungarian regions, the highest number of holdings with extra source of income (10 770) was recorded within the territory of Észak-Alföld: it accounted for 22 % of the total population of farms with other gainful activities.
See detailed data at NUTS 2 level for 2000
Data sources and availability
Methodological notes Hungary – Agricultural census 2010
The Agricultural Census 2010 was the first one to be conducted after Hungary’s accession to the European Union (2004) and the second one carried out in compliance with the EU legislation. The Hungarian Central Statistical Office was the responsible body.
Survey on agricultural production methods (SAPM)
In 2010 a unique survey was carried out together with the Agricultural census, the Survey on agricultural productions methods (SAPM). This survey collected data at regional level needed to establish agri-environmental indicators as indicated in COM final 508/2006 and to evaluate the greening of the Common agricultural policy.
Data were collected according to the specifications listed in Annex V of the above mentioned regulation, namely data on tillage methods, soil conservation, landscape features, animal grazing, animal housing, manure application, manure storage and treatment facilities and irrigation.
In Hungary, the SAPM was conducted as an exhaustive survey with regard to the agricultural enterprises. On the contrary, the SAPM was carried out as a sample survey in the case of private holdings. A random selection method, based on the enumeration districts, was employed to select 3 475 enumeration districts; all the households within the selected districts were surveyed.
Reference period
Data on the structure of Hungarian agriculture were collected as of the 1st of June 2010. Information on the labour force, non-agricultural activities and the Survey on Agricultural Production Methods was collected with reference to the 12 months prior to this reference date. Data on the rural development and irrigated area refer to the 2008-2010 timeframe.
Threshold for agricultural holdings
In Hungary, all agricultural enterprises which carried out activities were surveyed in 2010. In the case of private agricultural holdings, only farms with at least 1 500 square metres of productive land area were included in the census. Moreover, farms falling below this threshold but complying with a set of different physical thresholds (related to the square metres of certain types of crops or heads of cattle) were also included in the target population.
Common land
Common land is the land that does not directly belong to any agricultural holding but on which common rights apply. It can consist of pasture, horticultural or other land. The treatment of the common land used by an agricultural holding might differ from country to country.
In Hungary, common grassland was not considered as agricultural area until 2007. Thus, information on common land was included for the first time within the context of the FSS 2010: it indicated the value of about 74 000 hectares (2 % of the Bulgarian agricultural area).
Geo-reference of the holding
In Hungary, information on the location of the farms was obtained through the topographical lot number, the Integrated Administrative Control System (IACS) block identifier of the place where the main agricultural production is carried, or through the address of the holding.
Economic size
From FSS 2007 onwards, the Standard output (SO), a new classification of the economic size of the holding, is used. The SO has replaced the Standard gross margin (SGM) used before. Nonetheless, for comparability reasons, in FSS 2007 both classifications are available.
Other methodological issues
In Hungary, the Agricultural census 2000 did not include information on common land. Since data on common land were included in the FSS 2010, information on common land was filtered out of the 2010 data set when the two waves of the FSS were compared. On the contrary, whenever the present analysis took into account only the most recent data, figures on common land were included. Moreover, due to methodological reasons, the reference years for data on the Hungarian agricultural labour force are 2003 and 2010.
Context
European Commission Rural development policy aims to improve competitiveness in agriculture and forestry, the environment and the countryside, as well as to improve the quality of life in rural areas, and to encourage the diversification of rural economies.
As agriculture has been modernised and the importance of industry and services within the economy has increased, agriculture has become much less important as a source of jobs. Consequently, increasing emphasis is placed on the role farmers can play in rural development, including forestry, biodiversity and the diversification of the rural economy, in order to create alternative jobs and provide environmental protection in rural areas.
The FSS continues to adapt in order to provide timely and relevant data to help analyse and follow these developments.
Further Eurostat information
Publications
- Agriculture, fishery and forestry statistics — Main results – 2010-11 - 2012 edition
- Farm Structure Survey in Hungary - 2007 - Issue number 7/2009
- Farm Structure in Hungary - 2005 - Issue number 22/2006
- Structure of Agricultural Holdings - Hungary 2003 - Statistics in focus 27/2004
Main tables
- Agriculture, see:
- Structure of agricultural holdings (t_ef)
Database
- Agriculture, see:
- Structure of agricultural holdings (ef)
Dedicated section
Methodology / Metadata
- Structure of agricultural holdings (ESMS metadata file - ef_esms)
- Methodological Report - FSS 2010 Hungary
- Methodological Report - FSS 2007 Hungary
Source data for tables and figures (MS Excel)
Other information
- Regulation 1166/2008 of 19 November 2008 on farm structure surveys and the survey on agricultural production methods and repealing Council Regulation 571/88
- Regulation 1200/2009 of 30 November 2009 implementing Regulation 1166/2008 on farm structure surveys and the survey on agricultural production methods, as regards livestock unit coefficients and definitions of the characteristics
See also
- census 2010 Agricultural census 2010
- structure All farm structure articles by country
- structure statistics Farm structure statistics
External links
Notes
- ↑ A value calculated over the total number of active people aged 15 to 64, as it is reported by the 4th quarter 2009 of the EU Labour force survey (LFS) Population by sex, age, nationality and labour status (1 000)(lfsq_pganws).
- ↑ Jerzy Banski, Agriculture of central Europe in the period of economic transformation