Over half of Romanians who own less than five hectares of land would like to sell it or lease it, as they are unable to recover the money they invest in farming, as the price of gas, seeds and pesticides has increased in recent years.

Meanwhile, the price of agricultural products went down, said Laurenţiu Baciu, the president of the League of Agricultural Producers in Romania, quoted by Mediafax.

Romania has over 700,000 farmers who own between 1 and 5 hectares of land, who together control about 40% of Romania’s agricultural area.

Farmers giving up on their land has become more widespread in recent years, and is more visible every autumn. Some of the farmers grow old and their families don’t want to take over the farming business.

Romania has 14 million hectares of agricultural land, 9 million hectares of which are arable land.

In recent years, foreign investors have bought large surfaces of land in Romania and currently own about 700,000 hectares of the country’s best arable land, according to official statistics.

editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Wikipedia)