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

Education and Training Needs in the Field of Agriculture and Rural Development in the Lower Danube Region

Given the conditions of European Strategy for Labour which was ratified also by Romania, that states an intensifying implementation at national level of labour policies and especially those regarding young person labour market integration, and taking into consideration the great human and agricultural potential of Lower Danube Region, we consider the implementation of national and regional programmes in order to train agriculture and rural development specialists to be very necessary. This article inquires the necessity of training agriculture and rural development specialists within Lower Danube Region in the context of cross-border cooperation between Romania and Bulgaria. This research starts by analysing the European and national legal framework of adult training in those two fields. Subsequently, the main premises and advantages of those activities were emphasized. It is good to mention that the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest, Romania, and the D. Tsenov Academy of Economics in Svishtov, Bulgaria, proposed themselves to cooperate in the field of “human resources development – common development of skills and knowledge”. The legal base exists as the Romania-Bulgaria Cross-border Cooperation Programme 2007-2013 is enforced. Furthermore, a four years comparative study of the number of persons trained for the main jobs in rural area, including farmer, in Lower Danube Region was conducted. All these led to the idea that it is necessary to continue and to stress adult training of farmers and rural specialists as a solution for rural economy development and social welfare. Also, comparative analysis of supply and demand of professionals in the field of agriculture was elaborated. The main educational programs in training agriculture and rural development specialists were identified and some problems and perspectives were worked out. This research can be considered as a first step of future deeper and profound collaboration of Tsenov Academy of Economics, Svishtov and the Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest in terms of creation of common Romanian-Bulgarian Research Area, as a part of European Research Area (ERA). It includes joint knowledge and skills development through cross-border linkages and exchanges between the universities, in accordance with Romania – Bulgaria Cross-Border Cooperation Programme 2007-2013.rural development, agriculture, training, cross-border cooperation, Lower Danube Region

EVALUATION OF THE CYTOGENETIC EFFECTS PRODUCED BY BOTRYTIS ALLII FUNGUS TO ALLIUM CEPA

The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the cytological effects produced by Botrytis allii fungus (gray rottenness) on the meristematic cells of onion (Allium cepa). In case of the samples studied (onion bulbs affected by the disease, together with a healthy control), the following cytogenetic characteristics were analysed: the mitotic index, the frequency of mitosis phases in the roots apex, the frequency and types of chromosomal aberrations and nuclear abnormalities.After analysing results were found large differences between samples; thus, the mitotic index decreased from 11.88% for the control to 2.24-4.01% for samples affected by Botrytis allii. Also, it has been found the following main types of chromosome aberrations and nuclear abnormalities: sticky and laggard type chromosomes, fragments of chromosomes, as well as cells with nuclear erosion. From this point of view, the frequency of chromosomal aberrations and nuclear abnormalities was significantly higher in the case of variants affected by Botrytis allii, compared to the control variant (1.41% for control variant and 10.43-14.74% for variants affected by Botrytis allii).The results show that Botrytis allii (gray rottenness) has the ability to cause a large number of mitotic abnormalities to Allium cepa, affecting the growth and development of plants. In addition, the cytogenetic effects of infection with Botrytis allii can probably be similar to those produced by the action of a mutagenic agent

Challenges Regarding the Performance of Public Investment Projects

Investments, approached as a factor influencing the future, have an essential role in economic growth and development by stimulating the production process and by creating new, high-performing structures that are correlated with the specific needs of individuals and society. From the point of view of access to resources, but also of economic-social competition, economic development generates a higher level of performance, certified on the basis of qualitative and quantitative evaluation processes. In this context, the analysis system of investment projects must be based on operational principles and instruments with medium and long-term impact, capable of aligning with strategic visions. In this paper, based on the research carried out in the specialized literature and the analyzed studies regarding public investments, we identify the current challenges regarding the performance of public investment projects and propose a series of criteria for evaluating the performance of public investments and a sequence of stages to ensure the elimination of non-performing projects at the local, regional and national level. The results of the present research reveal the inadequate prioritization of public investments to ensure adequate sustainability and offer us the opportunity to develop new research directions in the following works in which we will analyze the impact that inadequate prioritization has on the sustainability of local, regional and national communities

The Competitiveness of the Romanian Agri-Food Sector in the Context of Sustainable Development

The agri-food sector in our country faces development gaps compared to other states in the European Union. The agricultural potential of our country is high and European Union finances this sector through the two pillars of the Common Agricultural Policy, namely market measures and rural development policy. The paper represents an analysis of GDP, population employed in agriculture, productivity and investments realized in the agricultural sector from Romania, in the period 2009 – 2021

Agriculture and the Twofold Relationship between Food Security and Climate Change. Evidence from Romania

Nowadays, agriculture is facing a special challenge – to produce more food for a growing population, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions caused by food production. This piece of research is focused on the impact of agriculture on climate change, starting from the assumption that agriculture is affected by climate variability, but also it contributes to it by emitting greenhouse gases, under the restriction of less per capita land. The paper analyses the connection between agricultural emissions and agricultural output, using a simple regression model, which includes variables corresponding to agricultural production and to greenhouse gas emissions. The results of the research highlight the fact that agricultural production has direct effects on greenhouse gas emissions and, thereby, on climate change. The relevance of the research consists in rising awareness of the emergency to integrate climate change in policies and actions related to food security at all levels. Moreover, the paper contributes to the enrichment of scientific literature, because it presents empirical evidence supporting the different effects of agricultural practices on the environment in Romania, with implications for climate change, a scientific direction that has been little studied in other paper

Influence of the Total Consumption of Households on Municipal Waste Quantity in Romania

Sustainable development is a worldwide concern. This paper presents an analysis of the influence of the final consumption expenditure on the total consumption of households in Romania. The regression function of the association between “the amount of municipal waste” and “the total consumption of households” has a direct linear relationship. The regression variable “total household consumption” (X) has a regression coefficient of −0.03031, which indicates that the amount of municipal waste decreases by one unit as household consumption increases by 30.31 units. Therefore, this regression coefficient indicates that the volume of municipal waste decreases by 30.31 tons to an increase in the final consumption expenditure of households of EUR 1 million. The influence of the final consumption expenditure of households by consumption purpose on the quantity of municipal waste is in the following order: health; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels; clothing and footwear; miscellaneous goods and services; recreation and culture; food and non-alcoholic goods; restaurants and hotels; furnishing and household equipment and routine household maintenance; alcoholic and tobacco goods; communications; and education. The value of the Significance F must be less than 0.05. In the case of the model, it is found that this value exceeds the threshold of 0.05 in the case of consumption generated by health services, recreation and culture, restaurants and hotels, alcohol and tobacco goods, and communications. Regarding the high value of Significance F in relation to consumption, we find the sectors that generate the least amount of waste (services). In the case of all of the independent variables, we can note that the relationship is a negative one, which proves that an increase in the quantity of any expenditure of the households generates a decrease of the municipal waste quantity

Traceability of pork - advantages, benefits, monitoring

Globalization of trade expands distribution of products and services worldwide, making it more difficult to control the content and quality. To prevent "food terrorism it is necessary to know the evolution of animals from birth to end of life. As long as an animal remains in the same group is easily identified by group ID. But once it leaves the farm, things become more complicated and traceability implementation must take into account many factors. For analysis, the firm needs information about vaccination, food, medication and supervision. To prevent consumer illness it is very important to monitor (track) the products chain. If a contaminated batch of food is found it will be easier to identify where they were distributed, and what point in the chain of traceability has been contaminated. Monitoring traceability is a complex process, if we consider the steps taken to obtain meat, and therefore, involves the use of a computer system; making it the classic way is difficult and expensive

INTEGRATION OF ROMANIAN AGRO-FOOD SYSTEM INTO EUROPEAN UNION

Romanian accessing to European Union does not automatically represent its integration. The integration of agro food system in the European Union involves a series of issues, first should agricultural economy integrate into the national economy and second, the agro food sector should integrate into the EU structures. After 4 years of accessing to EU, Romanian agriculture still faces a series of problems, mainly regarding the average yields per hectare. In the paper it is presented a comparative analysis regarding the cereal production for Romania vs. France and the main conclusion is even if the Romanian cereal producers has half of the cost of the France producers, he still receives 3 times less of the price per hectare

THE ROLE OF CONSULTANCY IN THE PROCESS OF APPLYING FOR EUROPEAN FUNDS FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT

In the context of the present world economical crisis, the pre-accession and structural funds assigned by the European Union (which have been and still are high for Romania) can represent an important financial support for ensuring the sources of sustaining the investments meant to contribute to increase the living standard in rural areas, in the case of acceding countries and for member states that joined in 2004 and 2007. Still, for countries it is important to have a high level of acceding these funds, because history proved that few countries absorbed the whole amount of money from the pre-accession funds (Czech Republic is a positive example in this context) and the structural funds (Spain and Portugal are positive examples in this context). An important factor in accessing European funds is represented by the structures of consultancy (public and private) that may advise the potential beneficiaries of these funds, for both elaborating the projects of investments and their implementation