Archive:Farm structure in Romania - 2007 results
- Data from December 2008, 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) 2007. It provides a brief but nevertheless comprehensive insight into farm structure in Romania.
The 2007 FSS recorded 3 931 350 agricultural holdings in Romania, which represents a 7.6 % decrease since 2005. The average area per holding increased by 31 % reaching 11.0 ha.
Main statistical findings
64% of Romanian farms produced mainly for own consumption
In 2007, about 866 700 agricultural holdings in Romania had an economic size of at least one European size unit (ESU), compared to 1 236 000 in 2005 (a 30 % reduction).
These farms made use of 9.498 million hectares (ha) of utilized agricultural area (UAA), a decrease of 8.1% in absolute values compared with 2005. But looking at the average UAA per holding, there is a significant increase (31%) from 8.4 ha in 2005 to 11.0 ha in 2007. See Graph 1 for the distribution of UAA in terms of farm size, while Table 2 describes the size distribution and other characteristics of the agricultural holdings.
These holdings employed 965 500 annual work units (AWUs), the equivalent of 965 500 people working full time, a decrease of 28.8 % since 2005. The organization and distribution of the labour force in Romania is described in Graph 2 and Table 1).
The farms contained 4.2 million livestock units (LSU) in 2007, 15 % less than in 2005. There was a 21% increase in the average LSU per holding from 4 to 4.8. The distribution of livestock by farm size is shown in Table 4 and Graph 3.
Amongst the 866 700 agricultural holdings in 2007:
- 54 % made use of less than one AWU, while another 9 % made use of two or more AWUs;
- 19 % used less than 2 ha, while 1.6 % used 50 ha or more;
- 64 % produced mainly for own consumption, whereas 35 % produced mainly for direct sales;
- 22 % of Romanian farms specialised in mixed livestock, mainly grazing livestock;
- 21 % specialised in mixed cropping;
- 12 % of the holdings specialised in field crops – grazing livestock combined;
- 11 % of the holdings specialised in general field cropping, and
- 7 % of the holdings farmed various crops and livestock combined.
Amongst the sole holders:
- 19 % were women in 2007;
- 71 % were aged 55 or more and 2.9 % were younger than 35 years; and
- 29 % had another gainful activity in 2007.
In Romania in 2007, 64 % of the agricultural area was farmed by its owners.
The family labour force represents 86 % of the total labour force - a 24 % decrease between 2005 and 2007.
The 2007 results show that the area used for rape and turnip multiplied by 4 (from 83 300 ha to 342 700) in two years. On the other hand, the area sown with sunflower fell by 11 %. The area used for cereals decreased by 18 % between 2005 and 2007: common wheat and spelt decreased by 22 %, barley by 23 % and maize by 12 %. In the same time fallow land increased by 20 %.
The situation for subsistence farming in Romania is outlined in Table 5.
Data sources and availability
Due to the different coverage of the FSS across Member States, the total number of farms is not comparable between countries. This is why the present analysis, including Tables 1-4 and the graphs focus on holdings of at least one European size unit (ESU).
The National Institute of Statistics, in collaboration with Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reform and the 42 county statistical offices implemented the survey on the structure of agricultural holdings in Romania. The FSS 2007 was the second sample survey after the General Agricultural Census in 2002 (GAC 2002). The reference period was the 2006/2007 crop year, in the case of the livestock data the reference date was 31 December and for the labour force queries the 2007 calendar year.
The target population was all the agricultural holdings (regardless of their size and production), which totalled 4.48 million holdings of which 4.46 were individual holdings and the remaining were legal units. No sampling thresholds were applied. These holdings were gathered in the Statistical Farm Register that was updated with statistical and administrative sources.
The legal units were surveyed exhaustively, and the individual holdings were sampled using the Neyman stratified random sampling method. The stratification included 42 counties, 11 ESU economic classes, 9 typology classes, and 7 classes of UAA. Altogether 354 742 holdings were chosen for the sample (a sampling rate of 8 %).
The questionnaires were completed between 10 January and 10 February 2008 in a large statistical operation that involved 6 944 field operators in face to face interviews. The response rate was 96 %.
For some cases of non-response, imputation was employed using data from another holding of the same stratum with a complete questionnaire.
Between FSS 2005 and 2007 "maintaining land in good agricultural and environmental conditions" (GAEC) became an agricultural activity and the concerned land has been included in the agricultural area. In Romania it covers close to 644 900 ha, 75 % in holdings with at least 1 ESU.
For each activity (`enterprise`) on a farm (for instance wheat, dairy cow or vineyard), a Standard Gross Margin (SGM) is estimated, based on the area (or the number of heads) and a regional coefficient. The sum of such margins in a farm is its economic size, expressed in European Size Units (ESU, 1 ESU is a 1200-euro SGM).
An Annual work unit (AWU) is equivalent to a worker employed on a full time basis for one year. In Romania it is 1960 hours (245 working days of 8 working hours per day).
A Livestock Unit (LSU) is equivalent to a dairy cow. The number of animals (number of heads) is converted into LSU using a set of coefficients reflecting the feed requirements of the different animal categories.
Context
European Commission Rural development policy aims to improve competitiveness in agriculture and forestry, improve the environment and countryside, improve the quality of life in rural areas and encourage the diversification of rural economies.
As agriculture has modernized and the importance of industry and services within the economy has increased, so 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, the diversification of the rural economy to create alternative jobs and environmental protection in rural areas.
The FSS continues to adapt to provide timely and relevant data to help analyse and follow these developments.
Further Eurostat information
Publications
- Farm Structure Survey in Romania - 2007 - Statistics in focus 80/2009
- National Methodological Report – FSS 2007 Romania (available on request)
Main tables
- Agriculture, see:
- Structure of agricultural holdings (t_ef)
Database
- Agriculture, see:
- Structure of agricultural holdings (ef)
Dedicated section
- Agriculture, see:
- Ad-hoc tables: Farm Structure Survey