Prospects for the agricultural income in Romania

The accession to EU represents a major economic and social opportunity for fundamental changes in micro and macro management and for reconsidering agriculture and rural areas in the process of sustainable development. Romania faces serious structural problems, such as the fragmentation of agricultural land and of production and the backward organization in most production units. They keep the low level of productivity, which was in 1994 (one of the best agricultural years) only 17.2 % of the average level of EU25. This productivity determines the low level of agricultural income. By having the option for subsistence agriculture, households in rural areas depend strongly on the income from agriculture, while the own consumption often masks rural unemployment. Common Agricultural Policy measures will have direct impact on agricultural income. Rural development gives the chance to income diversification of households and to the absorbtion of excess employment from agriculture.