ABSTRACT
The dual role played by Romanian agriculture intensified after the revolution through the strains of transition. Under communism much progress was made in raising productivity and transferring surplus workers to other occupations. Yet the cooperative farms ensured that agriculture would remain the employer of ‘last resort’ with obligations (combined with security) for people who failed to find an alternative role in the economy. But the subsistence function increased after 1989 with the rapid decline of industrial production and the marginalisation of rural workers for whom smallholdings could be regarded as social security (quite apart from the equity argument of overcoming the abusive nature of communist collectivisation). Meanwhile the shift to free trade meant that the urban consumer was hardly dependent on local farmers since imports from the EU could be readily sucked in. often with advantages in terms of both price and quality, given the lack of investment in improving the efficiency of Romanian private farms. In this chapter the return to ‘minifundia’ will be examined along with government measures to achieve greater diversification by regional policies. A second section will review agricultural production and the prospects for a competitive industry. Unfortunately space does not permit complementary study of restitution procedures, government agricultural policy and infrastructure (mechanisation, irrigation, fertilisation, marketing and rural credit).
