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Organic farming is niche sector where Romania has stood out lately
Organic farming remains a priority sector in the view of newly-appointed minister of Agriculture because it is still a major supplier of such products on the international market.
'Organic farming is a sector I perceive to be a priority. It is a niche sector where Romania has excelled over the past few years and we have to continue with such products on the international market. I saw to my utter delight that the consumption of organic food has soared lately,' Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Daniel Constantin told Agerpres in an interview.
He added that more people will be appointed to deal with the organic farming sector by the new organisational chart of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR).
'In the new organisational chart of MADR to be approved the week to come we will try to have more people involved in organic farming both to promote it and create new policies, and to make exchanges of information, especially in the area of control. There have been a lot of scandals lately related to some products which were labelled 'green' and they were not,' stressed the minister of Agriculture.
According to him, a general department of food industry will be created in the new organisational chart, to deal with each branch separately. 'Our priority is that we should have a two-way control for the products on the shelves. On the one hand, we have to know what the quality of the product to reach the shelf is, on the other hand, we have to be sure we are able to fight tax evasion. These two priorities will be valid for all the industry branches,' Daniel Constantin said.
According to the estimations made by the MADR representatives, Romania could reach exports of organic food in excess of 1.5 billion euros over the upcoming five years, if this sector gets support from authorities, as the export of such products was estimated at 200 million euros for 2011. As regards the local consumption of organic food, half of it comes from Romanian food, namely honey, wine and bakery products, and the other half from the imports made especially by the great retailers. Romania has at the moment only a percentage point of the total consumption of organic food, compared to the 6 percent as Germany has.
Romania exports raw material especially, cereals, honey, berries and very few processed products such as cheeses, wines or bakery products.