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Agriculture : Minister Daea: Romania has 4.5 million hectares of pastures and hay fields, just as Belgium, the Netherlands and Austria combined
Romania has a robust potential for the development of animal husbandry, as it has 4.5 million hectares of pastures and hay fields, just as Belgium, the Netherlands and Austria combined, and European subsidies have helped enormously in land farming, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Petre Daea told Antena 3 private broadcaster.
"Of the 9.4 million hectares of arable land in Romania, 4.5 million hectares are pastures and hayfields, equal the grassland surface of Belgium, the Netherlands and Austria combined. This is an extraordinary rich resource and a development pool for animal husbandry and we will have solved the problem of the Romanian rural areas when we will have extensively implemented animal husbandry in Romania. The 9.4 million hectares are entirely cultivated. In autumn there were more than 3.3 million hectares and works are being done now to cultivate the entire surface. Common Agricultural Policy subsidies have helped us a lot, and a patch of unfarmed land is now a rare sight in Romania," Petre Daea said.
Asked whether Brussels is a friend or an enemy for Romanian agriculture, the AgriMin answered categorically: "A friend," denying certain preconception circulating in mass media.
"I was in Brussels, I had meetings with two commissioners. The meeting with Hogan scheduled to last 30 minutes took one hour in the end, I went there with four problems and had all four solved. I had a discussion in the prospect of the post-2020 CAP and I saw there's a major interest, an identity in thought and a healthy outlook of the EU's agricultural future," the Agriculture Minister said.
In his opinion, Romania has to take the lead in several areas, and grain culture should be one of them.
"Romania is in the European Union and has to be lead manager in a few areas. If we are the first country by grain crop, why not be the leaders here? Romania has a voice, a history, results and prospects in agriculture, and we are working on these prospects," said Daea.