Monitoring Sustainable Agricultural Development in Romania

Sustainable development is a concern of governments and groups of countries around the world. The topic is on top agenda because the need for a coherent development strategy became imminent under global crisis conditions. The objectives of the work consist in identifying the level of sustainable development of agriculture in Romania, by quantifying the indicators developed by the European Union and those published by the United Nations. The main results show a slight progress in sustainable agricultural development of Romania, at least in those regarding the area under organic farming, which increased 8 times from 2000 to 2009.sustainable development, organic agriculture, models of production and consumption.

Developing the Management Competencies for Getting a Competitive Position in the Organic Food Market

Although almost any conference tackles the issue of organic foods, we consider that this article does not fit into normal patterns of research. Our paper proposes a complex analysis in the field of organic food products. It also highlights the need of developing new competences of managers and marketers in analysing market for getting a competitive position on it. The method used is the Six Thinking Hats, devised by Edward de Bono. This method appeals to the driving creative thinking; it can be applied in almost any field of analysis. The outcomes show that, using creative thinking, the leaders develop new competences which enable them to better analyse organic food market and to identify and gain competitive positions on it.management competencies, organic food, six hats method, creative thinking, leaders, competitive position.

MARKETING RESEARCH ABOUT PERCEPTIONS OF PRODUCERS OF ROMANIAN TRADITIONAL PRODUCTS

The purpose of this study is to describe the businesses of Romanian producers of agrofood traditional products traded to the Romanian Farmer’s Fair. The need of pursuing these issues is emerged from the changes happened on the market of agro-food products in those regarding the transitions to a healthier consumption, to ecological and/or traditional products, in the case of some consumers. Because of these, some producers identified opportunities of developing businesses with traditional Romanian products. In describing producers’ businesses, a qualitative marketing research is undertaken to the Romanian Farmer’s Fair, trying to identify future trends of the market of agro-food products.Traditional products, Model of consumption, Agro-food products’ market, Consumer, Agribusiness, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Models for short fruits’ chain

The paper presents models for short chains of fruits, considering integration as the main mechanism of coordination agents’ activities on the chain. The research answer the question how efficient are activities of fruits’ chain in this particular form of integrated activities of collecting fruits, store and process them in juices and jams and sell them to the market, in a single economic unit. The objective of the research is to assess the efficiency of such a business. In achieving this purpose, economic data regarding investment, production, revenues and expenses have been analysed, for an associative form of processing and selling fruits, which develops such a business. The results show that investment is feasible, because revenues are higher than expenses, the rate of return is 5%, and the return of investment is 5.66 years, less than the machineries’ period of operation. The model is useful for farmers owning orchards, who want to apply for structural funds and to develop, as such, their business in the direction of integrating activities down-stream the chain

Models for short fruits’ chain

The paper presents models for short chains of fruits, considering integration as the main mechanism of coordination agents’ activities on the chain. The research answer the question how efficient are activities of fruits’ chain in this particular form of integrated activities of collecting fruits, store and process them in juices and jams and sell them to the market, in a single economic unit. The objective of the research is to assess the efficiency of such a business. In achieving this purpose, economic data regarding investment, production, revenues and expenses have been analysed, for an associative form of processing and selling fruits, which develops such a business. The results show that investment is feasible, because revenues are higher than expenses, the rate of return is 5%, and the return of investment is 5.66 years, less than the machineries’ period of operation. The model is useful for farmers owning orchards, who want to apply for structural funds and to develop, as such, their business in the direction of integrating activities down-stream the chain

Research on Consumers’ Self-Protection through a Healthy Diet

The article analyzes consumers’ concern for healthy food, emphasizing the role of the vegetarian diet. Studies on the topic are available world-wide; however, none of these focuses on the role of vegetarian diet within the concern for healthy food, in Romania. In answering this question, a qualitative research was carried out on the customers of a store that sells natural food products and products certified as organic. The results indicate that vegetarian diet has a central role within the wider concern for healthy food, endorsing arguments to support the assertion. Hence, propensities in the consumer concerns to turn to healthier diets were identified, based on a system that diminishes or eliminates meat based diets. The conclusion of the qualitative research is a premise for future development of quantitative research, assessing the dimensions of this phenomenon.healthy food, consumer behaviour, market research, vegetarian diet, eating patterns, organic agro-food products, market strategy

ENVIRONMENTAL RISK IN ROMANIAN VINEYARDS

Agricultural activity, unlike other economic areas, is accompanied by a high degree of risk and uncertainty, caused mainly by environmental factors. The influence of weather on growth and developing processes of crops, orchards and vineyards is the science which studies and determines agricultural biotope necessary to achieve optimal biological productivity. Thus, agro meteorology involves agro-climatic resources’ management and conservation in developing agricultural production process (weather - deepening relationship). Agriculture, as user of agro meteorological information, recover their combination with specialized information (agricultural, technological, economic, etc.) for preventing and minimizing climatic risk upon plant species, but also for establishing sustainable development strategies. In order to prevent and reduce the negative impact on wine production, it is necessary to monitor weather forecasts and hazardous to achieve decision-making system of protection and assurance wine production.natural hazards, traceability, agro meteorological monitoring, risk management.

Improvement for the quality of the agro-food products – condition for the Romanian agriculture integration in the European Union

Romanian agro-food products’ competitivity depends, as a priority, on their quality. There are some factors that conduct to a decrease in productivity for agricultural production in Romania and in its quality, the main are: financial difficulties in input supply, small dimension of the farms and lack of the technologies, management and marketing for the main part of the farms. In order to improve agro-food products’ quality, it is necessary to harmonize Romanian quality standards to those of the European Union and to support the quality of the traded agro-food products. One of the agro-food branches of the economy which may become competitive on the European Union market is wine, with the condition of quality improving. In this paper we present some measures for wine quality improving. We intend to present some ways of improving the wine quality.Wine; Quality; Agro-food products; Competitiveness.

Application of Blockchain in EU Organic Agriculture

In recent years Blockchain emerges as a promising technology for agriculture. Blockchain is applied in cryptocurrencies, but in recent years it has also been successfully implemented in the food supply chain. This paper aims to facilitate an understanding of the application of blockchain in organic agriculture. Within the EU where data records in the organic supply chain are in a paper form inaccessible to consumers, there are no uniform data records, etc. These structural shortcomings were the motive for analyzing blockchain as a solution to remove barriers in the supply chain. We rely on intensive literature research, consultations with organic farmers, retail chain representatives, organic products processors, organic certification bodies and experts in the field of production and marketing of organic foodstuff. The results show positive effects of applying blockchain to the organic food supply chain, such as strengthening organic production control systems, increasing consumer trust and reducing administrative and transaction costs