Changes in the Romanian farm structures during transition – evolution and main determinants

In Romania, farm restructuring is an ongoing process, largely conditioned by the legal frameworkthat accompanied the land reform during the transition period. After 1990, Romanian agricultureexperienced critical shifts in farming structures, reflected also in the production ones. Whilearable land represents 63% of the UAA, a restrictive production factor in developing acompetitive agriculture resides in the fact that 61.7% of total arable land is utilized in excessivelyfragmented family farms – 14303 thousands plots. This is seriously hampering family farms’productivity, if we take into account that they are producing an estimated 74% of the total cropoutput of the sector level (2004). Under the present conditions, the agricultural producers actunder two major objective restrictions: (i) integration of the Romanian agriculture into Europeanstructures, under the implementation of the 2007-2013 CAP reform; (ii) the relative lowpossibilities for backing up the financial support received through different EU-funded programs.The present study tries to assess the evolution of the Romanian farm structures during transition,together with the policies aiming to land ownership and consolidation, by analysing the maindeterminants of the changes, the expectations, the successes and failures, as well as to appraisethe problems encumbering the further restructuring process, given the need for successfullycompeting in the EU Single Market.