Theoretical considerations regarding the need and importance of biodiesel production in the European Union

Scientists around the world found that conventional energy sources are both polluting and depleting. In this context, scientists are looking for alternative solutions to provide the necessary energy in industry, agriculture, transportation and other economic fields. Main alternative energy sources are wind, wave, biomass, solar, hydro, etc. An important role among these is held by the energy from biomass (biogas, bioethanol, biodiesel). Because of the environmental strategies globally applied, unconventional energy sources gain a growing share of analysis and use. Among them, biodiesel is an important alternative fuel that has oil from vegetable crops as raw material. This paper outlines the evolution of biodiesel production in recent years within the European Union and advantages found in he alternative fuel both in terms of environmental protection and financial terms. The paper will analyze the strategies discussed so far in terms of promoting and using biodiesel in the European Union, and future trends. Also, the paper will emphasize the current situation regarding biodiesel production in European Union and Romania

Studies regarding the division in Romania of agricultural crops – raw material for biodiesel production

According to Directive 2003/30/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council regarding the promotion and use of biofuels for transport, Romania is using biodiesel blended with conventional diesel in amount of 4% from 1 July 2008 and in amount of 5 % from 1 January 2011. The main advantages of biodiesel compared to conventional diesel are linked on one hand, to the environmental protection against pollution and on the other hand the annual regeneration of oil crops that can be raw material for biodiesel. There are large areas in Romania with favorable pedo-climatic conditions for the cultivation of these oil crops, the most important being rapeseed, soybean and sunflower. These species have the advantage that they can be fully mechanized thus reducing costs with labor foce. Also the introduction of varieties with high production efficiency rises the productivity of these species. Given these considerations, the areas for growing the biodiesel production crops gain an increasing proportion within Romania's arable territory

Positioning the Panifcom brand as a local agri-food producer through marketing strategies

With the change in the positioning strategy of the Panifcom brand, the brand's visibility and the company's financial capital increased. The new positioning places Panifcom among the Romanian local agri-food producers guided by local traditional values, based on the reinterpretation of the old traditions and recipes specific to Moldavia region, where the brand activates. This positioning has been achieved over the last few years through product offerings, distribution, sales, but also mainly through business promotion activity, including video ads, online marketing channels, events organised by the Panifcom brand, and key messages sent through various media promotion. The products offer and their distribution methods follow the company's orientation towards a strong position towards locally made products, capitalizing on the potential of agri-food products in the Moldavian region, products of a high quality nationally. The research’s results of how branding of domestic food products influenced Panifcom's financial capital reflects sales growth, with the company gaining turnover and profit over the past five years

Perception of consumers and producers on milk traceability supply chain

Food traceability (FT) in is an important tool for reducing the occurrence of foodborne diseases in the current context of a continuously growing volume and movement of food. The aim of the research was to determine the perception of consumers and producers regarding FT, the impact on purchase / sale and loyalty to traceable food products (FTP). Thus, a survey was conducted on the milk supply chain in Neamț County, Romania with two questionnaires: for consumers and for producers. The TwoStep Cluster analysis allowed the establishment of 2 clusters for consumers and 2 for producers. Cluster 1 consumers (40.6%) priority: rural area, between 30 and 60 years old; secondary education, women are informed about FT. They consider that FTs are 10% more expensive than non-traceable products and traceability is a formality. Cluster 2 consumers (34.8%) priority: urban environment, with secondary education, men, well informed about FT and are willing to buy for food safety even if the price would increase by 20%. Cluster 1 producers (61.1%) priority: rural area, secondary education, information on FT at medium level and appreciate that traceability is expensive and the information provided can reduce the competitive advantage and increase taxation. Cluster 2 producers (38.9%) priority: rural area, with secondary education, women who have above average information about FT consider that FT allows the legal assurance of their own activity and can determine the increase of sales

The impact of online marketing campaigns implementation in the evolution of Kosarom company

The present paper centralizes the results of a research regarding the way that online marketing campaigns and communication through virtual channels influenced the interaction between the Kosarom studied company and its target audience, on one hand, and the increase of its financial figures and the whole brand notoriety, on the other hand. The authors aimed at demonstrating the importance of implementing online marketing campaigns, and that in the agri-food business, companies need to follow a long-term online marketing strategy based on target audience analysis, market trends, and the most suitable web platforms for delivering the key messages. In the research the authors have analyzed data from secondary sources, such as specific literature and they identified and studied the online entity of Kosarom company, its digital implemented campaigns through its website and the social networks and the reaction of the target audience to the company key messages. The studies have identified increases regarding the Kosarom online brand visibility after the emerge of its campaigns on the popular social networks. The increases were noted in therms of company revenue, the company having rises of the turnover and profit in the period following the implementantion of the online marketing campaigns

Contribution of the European grants to development of an agricultural unit

The study aims to highlight the positive influence of the European grant instruments developed in Romania. Our country is currently benefiting of the third European Union financial grant for the 2014-2020 period, and the second since its accession to the European Union in 2007. This current one occurs after the successful implementation of the pre-accession SAPARD program between 2000 and 2006 and the first post-accession EAFRD framework during 2007- 2013. The paper follows the course of an agricultural unit in Iasi County which has carried out, since 2012, a number of four investments with the support of the grant projects, the fourth being currently in the final implementation phase. The non-refundable amount of the four investment projects provided by the European Fund for Agriculture and Rural Development is 2,245,396.45 lei, equivalent to 501,775.78 Euro. All the four projects aimed at modernization of the vegetable production farm by purchasing of new and state-of-the art agricultural machinery and equipment. The authors have proposed to elaborate a case study materialized in this paper as a continuation of the previous research of this unit. Initial research tracked the evolution of the unit from the first investment to the end of the third implementation. The implementation of the fourth financing project required further research into the subsequent evolution of the agricultural operator. The unit under study is an example of good practice on terms of attracting the European grants available for farmers and their contribution to the development of the agricultural sector and the rural area in general at the level of the Member States or candidate countries

Innovative agricultural businesses – elements of an efficient farm management

Innovation is one of the neo-factors with the greatest influence on building or enhancing a competitive advantage in all fields of activity, including the agricultural sector. Innovative agricultural businesses are the ones that ensure differentiation in relation to competition and are the main sources of added value in a dynamic economy. Innovation is one of the attributes of the entrepreneur. Business ideas that identify new products, new features or usage patterns as well as new market niches are tools that help ensuring successful management of the farms concerned. The paper aims to identify a series of innovative business ideas related to agricultural and agri-food activities, to provide examples of good practices associated with these businesses and to analyze the importance of innovation at European, national and local level. The study highlighted the direct correlation between innovation and performance, the Research and Development department of each enterprise gaining increasing importance related to the production department. Firms that did not adapt to the ever-changing environment and did not adopt differentiation strategies have involved or stagnated economically while companies that have come up with new products or presentation methods, new technologies and processing systems have considerably improved their economic results by becoming leaders in the segment targeted by them. Growing lavender, planting peanut, natural juice factories or cultivating and processing medicinal plants are some of the innovative businesses identified that have developed and brought to the entrepreneurs great results and to customers new products and services adapted to their needs

The development and diversification of the rural economy by financing the tourism projects

By this paper we plan to reconsider the touristic values by multiple perspective - economic, social, ecological - given that at national level were implemented many projects in the tourism area, some of which are strategic and of very large amplitude, with significant impact on the economic development in the rural areas. To this end, we take into account the issue of the rural economy development through value awareness and highlighting the programs for financing the tourism projects in the last 10 years for the North-East Development Region. The research, theoretical-empirical, is based on thematic description, analysis and synthesis. It considers the basic indicators of the rural economy development for the analyzed region and it concludes about the progresses obtained towards the diversification of the rural economy and the tourism contribution to this progress. The main result of the paper is highlighted by a dashboard built on the basis of the indicators that allow the quantification of the progress obtained in the rural areas through the economic diversification determined by projects funded in tourism. A main conclusion of the study is that, undoubtedly, a tourism project is a notable determinant of the economic development, with multiplier effects beneficial to the rural environment where was implemented

The influence of management activities regarding agricultural machines maintenance and repair on the overall farm economic efficiency

A particularly important role in the activity of farms is represented by the agricultural machinery and equipment used in production. In addition to a thorough selection and procurement process in accordance with existing needs, there is also a need for efficient management of maintenance and repair activities correlated with the technological specifications and the required work schedule. Although, on the whole, little attention is paid to this sector of the general business, possible malfunctions may lead to the impossibility of carrying out certain technological works and, consequently, to the deregulation of production plans and, subsequently, a possible negative impact on economic results. Management can be a decisive factor of production, in addition to the other factors that are given a higher importance, this field requiring more attention in terms of training the managers and implementing the principles of this science. The paper aims to highlight the importance and impact of efficient management of maintenance and repair of machinery on the economic results of agricultural farms starting from a general analysis and continuing with an analysis at the farm level, making a correlation between these activities and the economic results recorded. Maintenance and repairs within a company can be carried out, depending on the strategy approached, both by the farm employees, by an authorized service in partnership with the farm or can be carried out in a combined system. The effectiveness of the technological system is determined by the way of adapting to the characteristics of each farm. If the maintenance of agricultural equipment used in the production process is not carried out in time, regardless of the field, the activity cannot be realised in optimal conditions or there may be delays in accomplishing the task which may influence the process of organizing and coordinating activities and therefore optimal operation process is affected

Study regarding the dynamics of main quantitative and qualitative indicators for the agricultural sector in Iași

Knowing and updating the values of the main quantitative and qualitative indicators of the agricultural sector related to a certain area of interest allows for an overall vision and the generation of viable solutions by correlating the values resulted with the needs of the specific area (generating an increase in productive, assuring the consumption needs, environment protection, encouraging investment) as well as expressing current trends in a particular field. Changes regarding crop area, production on main crops and average yields, livestock by category, farm tractor and agricultural main agricultural machinery or the value of total agricultural output expressed graphically or tabularly reveal the neuralgic points (which require attention from the responsible factors) or the strengths indicating areas with development potential and favorable to investment. The management of the economic entities in the agricultural sector aims to make the specific activity more efficient and a significant precursor stage in this process is represented by the analysis of the specific indicators of the field in which the enterprise activates in order to find the best way to respond to the dynamics of the characteristic influence factors. The paper investigates the main quantitative and qualitative indicators of the agricultural sector in Iași County over the course of seven years, highlighting the current situation and the fluctuations registered with the impact on the entire economy of the analyzed area