The act establishing that 51% of products on the shelves should be Romanian will not change the situation of producers and farms this year, according to Cornel Stroescu, president of the National Agricultural Chamber.
"In 2017, the situation of the agricultural sector is no better than last year's. From my point of view, it is the same as in 2016, if not worse. What makes me have this view is that there appears to be no interest in organising agriculture in Romania. The impact of the law establishing that 51% of products on store shelves should be Romanian is zero. Such laws are passed in vain when we do not have produce to put on the shelves, because we are not united in strong organizations," stated Cornel Stroescu. The president of the National Agricultural Chamber believes that this year, efforts should go to improve the marketing of Romanian farm and vegetable products. "If we do not organise the harvesting, storage and sale of vegetables and fruits, foreign products will take over the shelves in 2017.
According to Stroescu, Romanian producers are throwing their products away because of a lack of collection centres and storage infrastructure. Today, the share of Romanian fruit and vegetables on supermarket shelves stands at just 10%.
A National Agricultural Chamber official reported that by 2020, vegetables, grains and fruits may be grown on just about 60% of the acreage the country had in 1989. "Very few care about organising Romanian agriculture. Agriculture could be the strongest economic pillar of Romania if only fresh vegetables and fruit producers worked together. If this is not achieved, we could be waving good-bye to agriculture," concluded Stroescu.
Source: capital.ro
