ABSTRACT
In Romania, in 2020-2022, a series of events took place which led to the need to rethink and adapt the management of agricultural farms to the new conditions. It is about the health crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which overlapped with one of the driest agricultural years (2019-2020), but also about the energy crisis, that for agriculture meant the unprecedented price increase for inputs and technologies. Under these conditions, the cost of food has increased from the very first stage of the production process, namely obtaining the raw material. Analyzing the data provided by the Romanian Commodities Exchange, the upward trend in prices starting with January 2020 and lasted until February 2022 can be observed. For the main crops in Romania, namely wheat, corn and sunflower, trading prices increased with 26-73%. At the same time, there are significant increases in inputs, which in turn are caused by higher prices in the energy sector - 443% for natural gas and 194% for electricity. Petroleum products were no exception, with a doubling of the price between the beginning of 2020 and February 2022. All these have led farmers to look for new solutions in order to ensure, at least partially, the necessary fertilizers from natural sources, through crops that are able to bring nitrogen into the soil. Reducing costs per hectare by introducing legumes (especially soy) into crop rotation and merging technological works are only the first proposed solutions, and in the coming years more innovations will be implemented in agricultural management.
ABSTRACT
Food security is one of the main problems that humanity has faced throughout its existence, it is generally analyzed globally, although it is rather a major problem in national security, along with economic, financial or demographic security. It is defined as the ability of the state and society to ensure the availability of food for its entire population in sufficient quantity and quality to ensure an active and healthy life. On the other hand, food security, as defined by the FAO it refers to the access of people from all times to nutritious and safe foods, which should meet both their needs and food preferences in order to ensure an active and healthy life. In this paper we aim to analyze how the COVID-19 crisis has influenced food security and safety, but also to justify the need to ensure their local and regional level. The data underlying the study are part of statistics from FAO, Eurostat and the National Institute of Statistics. The indicators used were the self-sufficiency rate, for the main food categories, both for Romania and for the E.U. and share of non-regular and employed farm labor. Based on the study, conclusions were drawn regarding the risk due to of COVID-19 on food safety and security.
ABSTRACT
Food security is one of the main problems that humanity has faced throughout its existence, it is generally analyzed globally, although it is rather a major problem in national security, along with economic, financial or demographic security. It is defined as the ability of the state and society to ensure the availability of food for its entire population in sufficient quantity and quality to ensure an active and healthy life. On the other hand, food security, as defined by the FAO it refers to the access of people from all times to nutritious and safe foods, which should meet both their needs and food preferences in order to ensure an active and healthy life. In this paper we aim to analyze how the COVID-19 crisis has influenced food security and safety, but also to justify the need to ensure their local and regional level. The data underlying the study are part of statistics from FAO, Eurostat and the National Institute of Statistics. The indicators used were the self-sufficiency rate, for the main food categories, both for Romania and for the E.U. and share of non-regular and employed farm labor. Based on the study, conclusions were drawn regarding the risk due to of COVID-19 on food safety and security. © 2021, National Agricultural Research and Development Institute. All rights reserved.