THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE NATIVE SMALL-SCALE AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS TO THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE INTERWAR KINGDOM OF ROMANIA

In the historical context of the social disorganization in both rural and urban areas following the conclusion of military operations in the First World War, as well as the various tensions between the different factions and political structures at that time, the Agrarian Reform Law was drawn up, marked both by a series of benefits and by insurmountable deficiencies, given the context of its conception. The final outcome was a major change in the way the land fund was allocated and a shift in the balance of economic, social, and political powers of the Kingdom of Romania. In this respect, it should be noted that while the need for a fairer distribution of the land fund had been called for time and again, the oppressive political regimes that came to power only sought to preserve their status quo, the old de facto and de jure states. The 1918-1923 period was marked by a series of political and economic events with historical relevance, as shown by the extensive literature dealing with this topic, concentrating on coordinates such as: the establishment of the unitary national state in 1918 and the enlargement of the socio-economic patrimony of the Kingdom of Romania; the elimination of the census-type voting system; a firm commitment to the principles of democracy on the basis of a new fundamental organic law - the Constitution promulgated in 1923. In the opinion of many important authors, the crucial event of that era was the adoption of the legislation of the 1921 Agrarian Reform, namely the law-decrees with the definitive title

EFFECTS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 1921 AGRARIAN REFORM IN IAȘI COUNTY – AN ECONOMETRIC APPROACH

Notwithstanding the multiple perceived deficiencies of the 1918-1921 agrarian reform pointed out by several authors, it can be firmly stated that it had considerable impact both in the County of Iași as well as in most other territorial units of interwar Romania, fact which is recorded in most of the papers written on the topic of the reform. Some of the most important effects of the vast process of redistribution of the land fund - perhaps the most extensive one ever recorded in the world or in Europe at least, according to the opinion of many reputed historians and economists were in the end expropriation of the big agricultural landowners in the county and the appropriation of peasants with individual plots. The discrepancy between the positive perception of the interwar period by a large share of contemporary Romanian society and the critical assessments and analyses in the works of some historians, mainly foreign ones, which are based on historical reports, data and information, can be justified and better understood on making use of statistics and statistical validation of the economic performance of the Kingdom of Romania between 1918 and 1939. Notwithstanding any critique of Statistics as a universal panacea with inevitable potential shortcomings, most authors agree that such assessments are highly relevant

SMALL-SCALE LOCAL AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS IN THE INTERWAR PERIOD. DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS

The agrarian reform of 1921 aggravated the contrasts between large, medium, and small-scale land properties, putting once more into focus the fact that the Romanian agricultural economy was based on the large properties, while the social economy was primarily focused on subsistence, which was specific to the second category of properties. The literature nevertheless shows that in December of 1918, the data on the population of the Kingdom of Romania were only approximate. With archival records indicating that from the last censuses until 1918, all the Romanian provinces experienced significant demographic changes caused by natural population growth, emigration, and immigration, colonization, and, above all, the impact and vicissitudes of the Great War, such data only served as indicative elements in estimating the post-war population with a view to a better understanding of the issues of the interwar rural areas

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AGRARIAN REFORM OF 1921 IN THE FORMER “COPOU” UNIT OF THE COUNTY OF IAȘI - NEW FINDINGS

In inter-war Romania, the agrarian reform of 1918-1921 was a topic of research and prioritized debate. A reference event in the modern history of the country, the issue still is, at present, and most likely also in the long term, a topic of historical-economic research of considerable importance. On studying the historical-economic literature available, it can be noted that there is still no extensive research which aims at analyzing in depth the 1921 agrarian reform, especially its implications or overall consequences at the level of the entire Iași County. There are a few papers focused on the overall development of the agrarian economy of the interwar period in which various aspects are presented in detail, backed by relevant arguments regarding the implementation endeavors at the level of Iași County.The present paper tackles the reform at the level of the rural settlements in the inter-war administrative-territorial unit - the “plasa” Copou, including the possible differences that might emerge in comparison to other similar  “plase” in the county of Iași, in terms of appropriations and leases, the expropriations of the large agricultural holdings, the various abuses committed during the implementation procedures, the colonization steps a.s.o. – all of which resulted from the agricultural reform triggered by the law decreed in 1921 – based on the available archived files with their unavoidable qualitative and quantitative limitations

ON THE NEED FOR INTERDISCIPLINARITY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY IN RESEARCH ON THE RURAL SPACE

An analysis of the present situation of rural areas in general, and of the Romanian ones in particular, represents an endeavour which cannot be undertaken in the absence of a historical analysis of the development of the rural environment, given the fact that the rural space has never been a static entity but a dynamic one, in constant confrontation with the urban environment. Given the strategic importance of agriculture as an economic activity, at present and throughout the history of human society, the study of its dynamics is of particular interest to researchers and specialists in the academic field, as the analyses and retrospective studies contribute to the elaboration of future strategies, despite the fact that the usefulness of such scientific studies is not generally acknowledged. As an interdisciplinary field, the history of agriculture is closely connected to other sciences, e.g. agricultural economics, political economy, rural economy, forestry, archeology, ethnography, sociology and statistics. In spite of some considerable shortcomings, the available research on the economic history, the history of statistics and historical sociology of the Romanian rural space provides a general assessment of both advantages and drawbacks, for example as a result of the agrarian reforms and following the strategies and measures adopted by authorities with a view to improve the living standards of the inhabitants. Moreover, irrespective of any inherent deficiencies and/or limitations, the general assessment is bound to be an important source of information for future researchers, authorities or indeed anyone interested

Socio-economic impact of ecological agriculture at the territorial level

This deliverable investigates the socio-economic effects of ecological approaches to farming through implementing two participatory approaches, namely Delphi exercise and Q-method, at the level of a case study area (CSA). The focus is on how people and other productive assets are employed and remunerated by ecological approaches to agriculture, particularly those aspects that can influence employment, and drive the prosperity and vitality of local communities and some rural businesses. It is based on the collaborative research on Task 4.2 ‘Socio-economic impact of ecological agriculture at the territorial level’ of the LIFT project between UNIKENT (United Kingdom-UK) (Task Leader), BOKU (Austria), INRAE (France), VetAgro Sup (France), DEMETER (Greece), MTA KRTK (Hungary), UNIBO (Italy), IRWiR PAN (Poland), IAE-AR (Romania), SLU (Sweden), SRUC (UK). Beginning with the Delphi exercise, this deliverable presents qualitative information extracted from stakeholders in the following four steps. First, the researchers build a presentation of differences between ecological and conventional farming approaches in each CSA. Second, stakeholders elaborate on how they understand ecological farming approaches to exist in each CSA. Third, stakeholders develop a scenario of adoption of ecological approaches to farming depending on two factors: pattern (ecological farms forming clusters or randomly spread within the territory) and rate of adoption 10 years in the future. After establishing this scenario across two rounds, the stakeholders explore the socio-economic effects of their adoption scenario. The Q-methodology then presents a Q-set of statements that the Delphi has developed and, through factor analysis,studies the key stakeholder perspectives of the socio-economic effects of the perceived adoption of ecological practices in 10 years in the future. Four key results can be derived from the Delphi exercise and the Q-methodology. First, a higher adoption of ecological farming approaches, especially so at a 50% adoption rate, is mostly thought by stakeholders in the Delphi Exercise to lead to an increase in skill level and quality of life in on-farm employment. This is as a result of an increased diversity of farming enterprises on farms using ecological farming approaches, the interest generated from this, the knowledge of natural processes and biology required, engagement with nature and change in machinery that is coming into the industry. Strongly related to this need for skills is a predicted increase in the number of advisers and civil servants to deal with more complicated farms and incentives as well as monitoring of ecological effects on farm. An increase in required skill level is repeated across all Q-studies. Second, especially where farms are clustered together, Delphi Exercise respondents predict an increase in the trade of inputs such as manure and compost replacing synthetic fertiliser, as well as more sharing of capital and labour. Q-methodology highlights that these clusters may support a stronger social movement, more consumers buying local food and increase collaboration between farmers. Supply chains are expected to become shorter as farmers sell more directly and there are fewer intermediaries upstream of the farming sector. As farmers collaborate more with each other on environmental objectives, trading inputs and sharing best practices, farmer relationships should improve in rural communities. Third, Delphi exercise finds that contracting, machinery purchasers, and machinery traders and dealers could increase, decrease or display no change – the anticipated effects are mixed. Stakeholders are in no doubt that machinery use will change and therefore new skills will need to be learnt, but the wider effect on machinery purchase is uncertain. However, stakeholders conclude that a greater specialisation in machinery will occur leading to changes in farm management as well as the suppliers of this machinery. Q-methodology highlights that ecological practices will not mean the end of machinery and a lot more labour – often machinery will be useful in weeding and reducing physical labour as technology has significantly improved and skills are improving too in order to use these technologies. Fourth, Delphi respondents argued that although rural populations might be little affected by ecological farming, a shift in people moving from urban to rural settlements, and thereby a higher rural population density, seeking a more attractive rural environment, might contribute to higher local consumer demand. The Q-methodology highlights that where there is high adoption, rural areas are expected to become more attractive, as landscapes will have a much greater variety of crops instead of fields of monocrops. This variety of crops may include agroforestry (farmers interested in ecological approaches to farming may also be interested in agroforestry as a way of boosting their yields and protecting crops and livestock from the elements) as well as intercropping

The Impact of COVID-19 Crisis upon the Consumer Buying Behavior of Fresh Vegetables Directly from Local Producers. Case Study: The Quarantined Area of Suceava County, Romania

The present paper intends to address the impact of COVID-19 crisis upon the consumer buying behavior of fresh vegetables directly from local producers as observed 30 days later, after enforcing the state of emergency in Romania within a well-defined area, namely, the quarantined area of Suceava. The study relies on the interpretation of answers received from the quarantined area (N = 257) to a questionnaire applied online nationwide. The starting point of this paper is the analysis of the sociodemographic factors on the purchasing decision of fresh vegetables directly from local producers before declaring the state of emergency in Romania (16 March 2020). Further research has been conducted by interpreting the changes triggered by the COVID-19 crisis on the purchasing intention of such products before and after the end of the respective crisis. The aim of this scientific investigation relies on identifying the methods by which these behavioral changes can influence the digital transformation of short food supply chains