Agriculture: Romania has the capacity to become European leader in the soya production

Romania has the capacity to become European leader in the soya production, if annually a surface of approximately 700,000 ha would be allocated, five times more than at present, according to the Association of Farmers from Romania (AFR).In 2021, the surface cultivated with soya was 140,000 ha, dropping by 29% against 2020 (169,000 ha) and the production obtained has surpassed 347,000 tons, with an advance of 25% against the previous year, when there were 322,000 tons.‘In 2020, over 40% of the European imports of soya came from Latin America, worth over 2.7 billion dollars. If we want to become strong players in the domain, something must change, and this means, among others, association in co-operations and setting up an Association of Soya Producers of Romania. As well as investments in irrigation solutions and access to community funds, use of soya to fix nitrogen in the soil and partnerships among farmers in the vegetal and animal sector’ the AFR representatives in an analysis sent to the press.Such a change would be beneficial as,at the level of the European Union there are discussion about the interdiction of APIA subsidies for animals, an initiative recorded officially at the European Commission.Indeed, the European Commission recorded a European citizen initiative entitled ‘End the slaughter age’ (let us finish the era of animal scarification). The organisers invite the Commission to exclude animal raising from eligible activities for agricultural subsidies and include ethical and ecological alternatives, such as cellular agriculture and vegetal proteins. The activists require, similarly, the introduction of incentives for the production and sale of agricultural produce based on plants and produce coming from cellular agriculture.On the other hand, AFR announces ‘good news for Romanian agriculture’ namely the document regarding micro-grants and grants for working capital which is under public consultation on the site of the ministry of investments and European projects (MIPE).The total value of the programme is 300 million euro, and the money will be for the support of business in the domain of agriculture and food industry.