Ecological agriculture in the Republic of Moldova,
achievements and perspectives

Duca Gheorghe, Toma Simion, Boincean Boris
Academy of Sciences of Moldova
Research Institute of Field Crops "Selectia"

Agriculture has an important role in the national economy of Moldova. The share of agriculture in the global intern product consists 18%. Together with the industry for food processing the agricultural sector consists 32% and 65% from the total volume of export.

In agriculture of Moldova more than 40% of people are employed. More than 50% of population lives in rural areas.

The main natural resources for Moldova are soils. The total area of Moldova is 3384,6 thousand hectares, including 2521,6 thousand hectares of agricultural land (74,5%). The area under arable land consists 1840,2 thousand hectares (72,9%), under meadows – 373,5 th.ha (14,8%) orchards and vinyards – 297,7 th.ha (11,8%).

Climatic conditions in Moldova are favorable for growing a large diversity of crops.

After the Second War, Moldova has followed the same way of technogenic intensification of agriculture as majority of countries in all over the world. Initially the yields of crops and the productivity of animals have increased, but in the middle of 80 th of the last century the stabilization was noticed. Simultaneously, the negative influence of technogenic factors on the environment has increased: higher rates of mineral fertilizers and pesticides, intensive moldboard plowing, irrigation, large animal feedlots etc. As a result the area under water eroded soils has increased dramatically. At least 40% of agricultural land in Moldova have a different level of erosion – low level of erosion – 23,2%, average – 11,7% and low level – 4,9%. The negative influence of wind erosion became evident during the last decades.

But even without water and wind erosion the uncompensated losses of soil organic matter are increasing on arable soils. Majority of wells in rural and urban areas have a dangerous level of nitrates which is harmful for health of people.

This is the result in great extent of reductionistic (simplistic) approach to the intensification of agriculture instead of holistic (systemic) one. Such a vision can’t assure a sustainable development of existing farming systems. We have to recognize that agroecosystems are less diverse, with higher amount of extracted energy and nutrients from internal cycling than natural ecosystems. Because of simplificated structural and functional diversity, huge deficit of energy and nutrients, the capacity of restoration for agroecosystems is significantly lower than for natural ecosystems. Without external input it is impossible to maintain the productivity of modern agroecosystems. Nature must be as a model for agroecosystems, taking in consideration only the extraction of a huge amount of energy and nutrients from the internal recycling.

Overestimation of productivity of crops during the period of "green revolution" has led to the underestimation of soil fertility. This happen because of "masking effect" of higher productivity on soil fertility. In other worlds, higher level of yields could be maintained with higher rates of inputs and higher yield potential of the new varieties and hybrids of crops, but in the same time with decreasing level of soil fertility.

The humanity became in the face of dilemma - how to increase the production in order to cover the increased demand of people in food products and in the same time how to avoid the increased degradation and pollution of the environment. This led to the Rio world summit in 1992, where for the first time at the international level it was declared that new ways of intensification, including in agriculture have to be found in order to provide sustainable development.

A sustainable agroecosystem is one which maintain the natural resources. It rely minimally on external inputs with internal mechanism for pest, disease and weed control, with high capacity of restoration after the influence of soil tillage and harvesting.

Ecological agriculture as a kind of sustainable agriculture is avoiding completely synthetically produced mineral fertilizers and pesticides, hormones, food additives etc. Genetic modified organisms are completelly prohibited.

The new paradigm of sustainable development in agriculture is based on respecting the following principles:

• minimum purchased artificial inputs from outside of the farm and avoiding them completely in organic agriculture
• intensive use of renewable sources of energy mainly of local provenience
• a more complete energy and nutrient recycling
• a minimum negative impact on the environment
• the utilization of local, more adapted varieties and hybrids of crops, a higher biodiversity of crops
• the restoration of soil fertility, which is determining the vitality and the health of soil, crops, animals and people
• the equity in relationships between producers, processors, distributors, sellers and buyers etc.

Unfortunately, many obstacles exists on the way to achieving a more sustainable agriculture. Among them we can mention:
• the domination of short term (market and profit oriented) interests instead of long-term ones
• export oriented economy instead of providing selfsufficiency at the local level and exporting the extra amount of products
• the globalization of the economy with the dominance of transcontinental companies which are selling pesticides, seeds, machines etc.
• the lack of the evaluation system for the cost of natural resources in the modern market oriented economy.

But in the same time these obstacles and other factors serves as incentives for a transition to a more sustainable farming system:

• high and increasing prices for nonrenewable sources of energy (natural gaz, petrol, coal) and their derivates synthesized in industrial conditions (mineral fertilizers, pesticides)
• the profit in permanent decrease for farmers because of high prices for external inputs
• increased levels of degradation and pollution of the environment
• higher risks for the health of producers and consumers

Very active in promoting organic agriculture worldwide is IFOAM. The goal of this organization is to adopt ecologically, socially and economically sound systems that are based on the Principles of organic agriculture.

The IFOAM Basic Standards for Organic Production and Processing are well known.

The European Community has adopted the Regulations N 2092/91 for organic production. Different countries have their own standards for organic (biologic, ecologic) production.

Republic of Moldova has the legislation in this aspect, harmonized with the European and international requirements which includes:

the national concept on ecological agriculture and the action plan for the implementation of this concept, adopted by the Governmental Decision N 863 from 21.02.2000

the Moldavian standard SM SR 13454: 2001 from 26.10.2001 "Biological products. Guidelines for ecological production".

the Law N 115-XVI from 09.06.2005 regarding the ecological production

the ecological production

the Governmental Decision N 149 from 10.02.2006 regarding the implementation of the low on ecological production, which includes:

• the national program for ecological production
• the statement about he principles of ecological production and ecological methods for processing agricultural products
• the statement (regulation) about the import and export of ecological products.
• the statement about the inspection and certification of agricultural products

Good incentives for organic farmers in Moldova are the subsidies which for first time have been allocated for these purposes by the Government in 2007.

The area under ecologic agriculture in Moldova has increased since 2001 from 168 ha up to 12392 ha in 2006. The amount of ecological products have increased from 395 tones in 2001 up to 30,6 thousand tones in 2005.

With the support of Global Ecological Fund in Moldova the Agricultural Pollution Control Project is implemented. The main aim of the project is to reduce the discharge of nutrients into the Danube River and Black Sea through land and water management. They include: managements of wastes from animal husbandry and household, conservation tillage, planting of shelter belts etc. The project helps also the Government of Moldova to harmonize the legislative framework with relevant European Union directives. Recently, we have finished the work on the Code of Good Agricultural Practices.

In the frame of the above mentioned project it were:
• built 3 manure communal storage and handling facilities, 450 household platforms in the pilot area of Hancesti district.
• organized demonstrational plots in different zones of Moldova with strip cropping, manure handling, growing crops in crop rotations, buffer strips in vineyards and grassed – waterways etc.
• planted 69 ha of shelter beets 22 ha of shelter belts and 128 ha of forest have been restored.

A lot of activities have been undertaken in order to raise the public awareness regarding the friendly environmental practices.

The main strategic factor in the development of ecological agriculture remains science, promoting the active policy in the field of science and innovation. The central role here is playing the Academy of Science of Moldova.

The Academy of Science of Moldova has initiated in 2005 the reorganization of the Research Institute of Plant Protection in the Institute of Plant Protection and Ecological Agriculture. The main objectives of this institute are:

the development and improvement of scientific and practical basis for agriculture

working out methods and means for biological plant protection and technologies for ecological agriculture

In 2007 the Academy of Sciences of Moldova and the Government has supported financially the State Program "Ecological Agriculture in Moldova. The aim of this program is to consolidate the efforts of different research institutions in working out the sustainable farming systems which would be able to use properly the natural resources (soil, energy, water, crops and minerals) and to achieve sustainable economic, ecologic and social development.

This program is coordinated by the Research Institute of Field Crops "Selectia" located in Balti (north part of Moldova).

Research Institute of Field Crops "Selectia" serves as a model for sustainable farming systems in the conditions of drought. The long-term experiments on crop rotations and permanent crops, soil tillage and fertilization in crop rotation, irrigation etc. have the duration more than 40 years. By the way in 2007, June 21-22 at the Research Institute of Field Crops "Selectia" an international conference on sustainable, including organic agriculture will be organized.

Besides this program other state programmers are active in ecological agriculture:
• State program "Working out technologies of producing and using the renewable sources of energy through row crop materials and wastes from agricultural production"
• State program "Processing and using of wastes from vine industry in Moldova and producing of new products"
• State program "Breeding, seed multiplication and extension of new varieties and hybrids with high tolerance and high productivity.
• State program "Principles and methods for diminishing the consequences of drought, low temperatures etc on agricultural crops"

All these programmers are only the first steps toward a more sustainable agriculture in Moldova.

The development of ecological agriculture in Moldova should be based on the same principles on which are based organic agriculture world wide. They have been adopted by the General Assembly of IFOAM in September 2005 in Adelaide, Australia:

• the principle of health
• the principle of ecology
• the principle of fairness
the principle of care

In order to respect these principles we should return to holistic (system) researches instead of reductionistic ones. Improvement of technologies isn’t enough for achieving a more sustainable development and especially for organic farming systems. Changes for the whole farming system are necessary which show the multifunctional role of agriculture. We need to develop self-sufficient and self-regulating production systems, which are less dependent from artificial, industrial inputs, can use more efficiently local resources and are friendly to the environment. But this isn’t enough also.

Researches have to be undertaken for the whole food chain – from crop breeding, primary production by farmers, processing, marketing up to consumers. By saying this we mean to take in consideration not only the production sector, but also the environment and social sectors. In other words, the whole link should be in the attention of researches – from the fork up to the table of consumers.

Educational work has a crucial role in this respect. Agroecology which is studding the ecology of the whole food chain has to be studied in agricultural universities. Farmers have to be involved in more on-farm researches for answering to direct questions raised by them. For educational purposes more model farms have to be founded where all farmers, but especially conventional ones can change their mentality.

More public funds needs to be allocated in doing researches education and extension works at the national and international levels. Cooperation between universities and research institutions at the international level can play a very important role in straitening the work on organic agriculture.