Considerations on the Role of Romanian Rice Production and Its Influence on the Commercial Relationship of the Product

Abstract

Rice is distinguished by its multifaceted importance: food (high nutritive value of grains), medical (used in the manufacture of medicines or treatment of certain diseases), industrial (beer, alcohol, cosmetics, paper making, craft products), feed (the by-products can be used in the feeding of animal species), crop management (recovery of the soils). Rice can be considered a species with superior productive potential, placing immediately after maize from this point of view. In Romania, varieties with a short period of vegetation are grown, due to specific climatic conditions. This paper seeks to present the evolution of rice production in Romania for the period 1989-2013, in terms of cultivated area, total production, average production, but also imports and exports of this product. For Romania, there has been a marked variation in the area (105-49,300 ha), the total production (253-70,200 t), the average production (1,263-5,426 kg/ha), the imported quantities (0-95,090 t) and exported quantities (0-48,363 t). The analysis is carried out in the context of a very variable economic and social climate, at national level, taking into account the major changes of the Romanian society related to: the change of the organization form of the national economy (transition from the centralized economy to the market economy) and Romania's accession to the EU in 2007. Romania is not an important producer of rice at European and world level, but on the basis of the existing potential for this culture, it is possible to reduce the imported quantities to cover the domestic consumption needs, as well as to better use the existing potential related to this crop.