Main issues of environment protection in Romanian agro-ecosystems
in the context of global climatic changes

Acad. Cristian Hera – President of Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences (AAFS), Bucharest, Romania ( asashera@asas.ro)
Dr. Cristian Kleps – Head of AAFS International Cooperation Department (asas@asas.ro)

Romania is medium-size country (23.84?106 hectares), located in the south-eastern part of Europe. Its relief is varied, consisting of flood plains, plains, piedmonts, hills, and mountains. The maps of major land forms, regional slopes, and hypsometry point out that the hilly and mountainous lands respectively sloping and steep lands with local relief intensity higher than 200 m occupy 51.9%, while the level of the waved lands (? 8% slopes) represent 48.1%.

ROMANIA – RELIEF FEATURES

Natural resources, especially climate, water and soil, play an essential part in the development of Romanian agriculture. Thus, from the thermo regime point of view, in the Southern part of the country the accumulated average is 4000oC and in the Eastern Transylvania and Northern Moldavia – up to 3400oC during the vegetation period.

Regarding the precipitation regime, Romania is characterized by 3 humidity zones: (i) the humid zone, with annual rainfalls of 600-1000 mm and annual potential evapotranspiration (ETP) of 550-700 mm; (ii) the sub-humid zone, with annual rainfalls of 450-700 mm and annual ETP of 650-750 mm; (iii) the semi-arid zone, with annual rainfalls of 350-550 mm and annual ETP of 700-800 mm, covering the fields from the South, South-East and South-West of the country.

The water resources corresponding to the internal hydrographic network are modest – 37 billion m³/year on average, Romania being situated on the 21^st place in Europe considering the water quantity per inhabitant. These resources are showing a deficit during summer, especially in the field zones. The Danube is an important water resource, with an annual average flow of about 170 billion m³ which, added to the interior water sources, ensures annually about 9,800 m3/inhabitant.

The soil resources of Romanian agriculture consist in a great variety of soils, from the most fertile to the very poor ones in nutritive elements, falling on average into the middle productivity class.

A large variation of climatic conditions (rainfall, temperature) from year to year has a negative effect on yield level and its stability. In order to ensure constant high agricultural productions, during the period 1970-1990 irrigation arrangements were built on about 3.1 million ha, drainage works on 3.2 million ha, soil erosion control on 2.3 million ha and protection against floods for about 1.5 million ha. However, on about 12 million ha of agricultural fields, of which 7.5 million ha arable land (about 80% of the total arable surface), the production capacity of soils is affected by one or more restrictions.

Agriculture in Romania remains a significant sector of the national economy in term of area contribution to the GDP and in particular share in the total employment. Romania's total agricultural area is 14.8 million hectare (or 63% of total area), out of which 9.4 million ha are arable land accounting for 63.3% of total agricultural area.

The restitution and redistribution of agricultural and forested land that started in 1991 has involved about 5 million people and transferred into private ownership 10.989,2 thousands hectares (or 74%) of the countries 14,856 thousands hectares of agricultural land. At the level of 2004, the total agricultural area in private property is about 14.300 thousands hectares, representing 96%.

The climate and the soil conditions are favorable for a large assortment of crops, cereals being predominant. The main crops are maize, wheat, sunflower and forage plants. The yield level per ha is low due to the improper application of the production technologies.

The rural population represents 45% of the total country population. More than half of the farmers (53%) are older than 50 years, from which 40% are over 65 years old. The overage predominance creates an environment less receptive to innovation, to management improvements, to development for competitive performance. This is why it’s necessary to create a proper framework, to stimulate the transfer of agricultural farm management from old persons to the young ones, through the creation of attractive conditions for young people to work and live in the rural areas.

The low performances of the Romanian agriculture are not correlated with its real potential. The agricultural land size and the natural and available human resources distinguish Romania as a very important producer and partner for the Central and Eastern European market of agri-food products.

The weak points of the Romanian agriculture are given by the high proportion of small subsistence farms (56% of them have under 3 ha), the low level of productivity and efficiency (due to land fragmentation and lack of capital), low access to credits and low development of specific services for agriculture.

The general requirements for a sustainable agriculture includes: (i) rational exploitation of natural resources; (ii) efficient crop management for obtaining high yield of good quality; (iii) environment protection; (iv) preserving the biodiversity; (v) adequate institutions and infrastructure to a sustainable management of natural, technical and human resources; (vi) enhanced research activity on farmers’ priorities; (vii) introducing effective advisory services; (viii) rural education – awareness of population about the sustainable management of rural areas; (ix) increasing the welfare of rural population.

Looking for the general causes to biodiversity deterioration in agro-ecosystems, it was recognized the part played by the inappropriate agricultural farming, pollution and under-utilization of land. High levels of agricultural pollution in some cases, results from: (i) poor agricultural practices, including inappropriate management, storage and application of mineral fertilizers, pesticides, manure and domestic waste; (ii) lack of septic tanks in most of the rural settlements; (iii) soil erosion resulting from unsustainable land use; (iv) destruction of the former floodplain areas; and (iv) lack of waste water treatment plants for both small human settlements and intensive animal production.

The promotion of environmentally-friendly agricultural practices, which is now in attention of the Romanian researchers and policy-makers, will maintain or increase agricultural productivity, while reducing non-point source pollution from agriculture. The future activities will include: (a) support for farmers’ associations to promote more environmentally-friendly agricultural practices, such as crop rotation, integrated nutrient and pest management, conservation tillage systems, riparian buffer strips and improved livestock management; (b) establishment and management of manure and refuse storage areas and their field applications; (c) soil testing; and (d) monitoring and evaluation of soil and water quality.

There are taken into consideration solutions for a better water resources management accomplished through ensuring permanent water supply to users, improving the quality of the water resources, ecological rehabilitation of rivers, mitigating the risk of flooding by:

• building manure storage facilities, polders and dams; regularizing the water flows in parallel to wetland preservation;
• conducting stream control works, afforestation and protective screen plantations;
• implementing soil erosion control and drainage works;
• enhancing civil awareness and responsibility regarding cleanup of water courses. Romania is characterized by a temperate - continental climate with excessive phenomena.

The climatic modifications produced during the latest periods of time emphasized the tendency for intensification of the excessive meteorological phenomena, represented by numerous droughty years (like 2003) and also some excessive rainy years (like 2005), with negative implications upon agricultural crops production. Droughts especially affect the South and East of Romania, representing about 35% of the country surface. The undeniable evidence on a total warming process settling and its intricate consequences as heat waves, more severe winters, floods, hurricanes, storms, drought – are unavoidable drastic threats against maintaining biodiversity, proper soil resources for agriculture, drinkable water resources and their quality and energy supplying sources.

The meteorological conditions in Romania change themselves in the global context with consequences on the restriction of the area for plants cultivation, the decrease of the scale of crops adapted to local conditions and the reduction of agricultural productions that direct towards the lowering of the population living level.

As signals of climate change, there are strong evidences on climate dryness and increasing frequency of occurrence for extreme values of temperature and precipitation by:
- Occurrence of extreme temperature values all over Romania, since meteorological measurements have been done (1884); e.g. The value of 44.5°C was recorded at Ion Sion station, on 10th of August 1951; 43.5°C at Giurgiu station and 42.4°C at Bucharest station on 5th of July 2000.
- Very heavy rains recorded on small surfaces with catastrophic effects; 136 mm-rain had been recorded during 2 hours at Raul Mare-Retezat station on10th of June 1999; 285 mm-rain had been recorded during 30 hours, in Bucharest area, meaning 60% out of average yearly quantity of rain.

Floods and draughts represent the most important political dimension of water management. Climate changes have as result the increasing of the frequency of the floods occurrence and their intensity. Catastrophic floods produced in the last years in Romania and in Europe have shown once again the necessity of changing of the rivers development strategy. Promotion of the new concept “More space for rivers" - integrating the requirements of the new EU Flood Directive and the EU Water Framework Directive – which provides:
- More spaces for floods control through the creation of wetlands; reallocation of dikes on short river reaches; retention areas with control flooding; creation of secondary branches;
- More spaces for nature – represented by floodplains, where new ecosystems will be developed, ensuring conditions for specific flora and fauna as well as for recreation and tourism.

The actions should be also developed considering all 3 components expressing the main natural disasters caused by water: a) floods, namely water excess; b) draught and c) soil erosion, taking into account all hydrographic reservoirs / basins, both of permanent water course and temporary ones. The analysis based on observations, studies and sustainable research should consider each separate basin, but evaluating the possible connection also. Consequently, for example, the construction of some defending works against floods by damming-ups, corrections of water beds and water accumulations should also consider the eventual works for draught combat by irrigation, as well as the soils preservation from the respective slopes, with a cross-cutting approach and a better synergy.

A sustainable and performing agriculture, the main strategic target to ensure environment protection, biodiversity preservation, food security and safety for Romania, becomes more and more dependent on the proficiency of the scientific research, which in collaboration with the higher education and agricultural consultancy will have to offer scientific and technical solutions adapted to the climatic changes dynamics.

Among the solutions offered until now by the agricultural scientific research, we mention: a new zoning of agricultural crops, the elaboration of some rational systems of agricultural structures which should consider natural resources capitalization, prevention and control against environment degradation processes, elaboration of sustainable technologic systems, drawing up vegetal genotypes and animals breeds better adapted to biotic and abiotic stress factors, biodiversity preservation, sustainable administration of forests and extension of afforested areas, decrease of the sources that produce green house gas emission involved into the climatic changes.

One of the main targets for the future of sustainable agriculture faced with the climatic change constrains is considered the maintenance or possible increase of soil fertility in order to sustain enhanced crop productivity and to counteract soil nutrients depletion, possible by:

• Advancing the concept of “integrated plants nutrition" by accounting all resources of nutrients (i) eextension of grain and fodder leguminous crops; (ii) all organic matter recycling;
• Afforestation of degraded lands by erosion and heavy metals polluted lands;
• Amelioration of pastures and natural hayfields;
• Capitalization of abandoned lands;
• Promotion of soils conservation activities;
• Rehabilitation, up-dating and efficiency increase of irrigations systems;
• Organization of the territory;
• Measures to protect soils against floods – damming-ups, land desiccation, drainage and removal of water excess.

“Agriculture is often responsible for environmental degradation, such as non-sustainable food production, poor fuel use, natural resource depletion and habitat exploitation. But at the same time farmers should be considered as key players in stopping degradation of vital ecosystems. It needs the political will to reverse the degradation of ecosystems through the change of agricultural policies, institutions and practices. Agriculture has to be at the centre stage if we want to preserve an ecological balance on which current and future generations can depend." said Alexander Müller, FAO Assistant Director-General, with the occasion of the FAO report prepared for its Committee on Agriculture meeting in Rome, 25-28 April 2007.

References

Barbu Sulfina, 2006 – Signals of climate change in Romania and consequences on the water management, Proceeding of the International Conference “Hydrological hazards", Bucharest.

Dumitru M. and colab, 2002 – Code of good agricultural practices, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, Expert Publishing House, Bucharest.

Hera C. & Oancea I., 2002 – Rational utilization and conservation of Romanian soils, National debate, Romanian Academy Publishing House, Bucharest.

Hera C. and colab., 2004 – Research strategy for biodiversity conservation and diversification in Romanian agricultural ecosystems, Bioplatform, Vol. 1, Vergiliu Publishing House, Bucharest.

Hera C. and colab., 2005 – The agriculture-environment-biodiversity relationship in Romanian agro-ecosystems and research strategy in the field of ecological technologies, Bioplatform, Vol. 2, Romanian Academy Publishing House, Bucharest.

Hera C., 2005 – Challenges for developing a knowledge-based agriculture in Romania, Proceeding of the CAP-ACC Conference, Sofia.

Hera C.& Kleps C., (editors), 2006– Soil fertility and the future of agriculture in Europe, Romanian Academy Publishing House, Bucharest.

Kleps, 2005 – Multiple benefits resulted from the integrated approach of the environmental issues, Proceeding of the International Symposium “Environment and Industry", Bucharest.

Kleps C., 2006 – Water between climatic changes and agricultural requirements – Romanian case, Proceeding of the World Water Week Conference “Beyond the river – sharing benefits and responsibilities", Stockholm.