Published in Scientific Papers. Series "Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and rural development", Vol. 23 ISSUE 1
Written by Agatha POPESCU

The present paper aimed to analyze utilized agricultural area (UAA), number of agricultural holdings (NAH), average holding size (AHS), standard output per holding (SOH) in Romania and other EU countries with large UAA in the period 2005-2020 using the data from Eurostat and National Institute of Statistics in order to identify the trends and actual situation. Fixed basis indices, regression equations, R square, Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), Gini Struck Coefficient(GSC), structural indices, comparisons with the EU average and among the selected EU countries: Romania, Poland, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, United Kingdom were used as processing methods for reflecting the changes farmland and farm structures. In 2020, Romania had 12,763 thousand ha UAA, representing 7.6% of the EU's UAA and coming on the 6th position, after France, Spain, Germany, Poland and Italy. In 2020, Romania had 2.88 million AH and together with Poland, Italy, Spain, France and Germany, had 6.89 million AH (75.7% of the EU's 9.1 million NAH). The farms smaller than 5 ha represent: 90.3% in Romania, 64.1% in Italy, 52.3% in Poland, 51.6% in Spain, 19.6% in France and 8.2% in Germany, while the farms with 50 ha and over account for 7.5% at the EU level, 1% in Romania, 3.1% in Poland, 4.5% in Italy, 11.6% in Spain, 31.5% in Germany and 45.9% in France. To the EU's SO, all these six countries contribute by 71% to the EU's SO. In the EU, less than Euro 2,000 SO was produced by 35.7% farms, while Euro 50,000 and over was achieved by 12.9% farms. In Romania, 71.5% farms produce less than Euro2,000, while 0.9% achieve Euro 50,000 and over. Regarding the concentration of farms by SO size class, HHI and GSC reflected a high concentration in Romania, relatively moderate at the EU level, moderate in Poland and Italy, and a lack of concentration in Spain, France and Germany. The SO/AH in Romania was Euro 4,029, compared to Euro 38,703 at the EU level, Euro 19,680 in Poland, Euro 57,681 in Italy, Euro 44,124 in Spain, Euro 158,430 in France and Euro 167,631 in Germany. As a final conclusion, the gaps among these countries are caused by the unbalanced farm structure with the highest share belonging to the farms with less than 2 ha. Farms with 50 ha and over could assure a higher SO/farm. To diminish NAH and grow AHS has to continue for increasing the economic power in terms of standard output. Small and medium-sized farms have to be sustained to join their efforts for a higher concentration of land, production and economic efficiency.

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