Romania has a quarter of the surface cultivated with corn in the European Union, but the yield of its corn cultures is half compared to developed countries, according to Tudorel Andrei, the president of Romania’s National Statistics Institute (INS).

Andrei also pointed out that Romania had big surfaces for other cultures, such as sunflower, but that the yields for these cultures are low as well, reports local Profit.ro.

He also pointed out that Romania’s land surface used for agriculture has dropped a lot since 1990 and that the country has a lot of small exploitations that are not efficient.

“There are 3.6 million farms in Romania, which represents 30% of the total number of farms in the EU,” Andrei said.

However, although 27-28% of Romania’s occupied population works in agriculture, this sector only brings 5-6% of the country’s GDP. By comparison, in developed countries, agriculture brings 6-7% of the GDP with only 3-4% of the population working in this sector.

editor@romania-insider.com