Is it still possible to make profit from farming? Yes. But only if the farm is large enough to benefit from additional support from the State, which has decided to start an extensive campaign to bring together the small farms “specialised” in producing just enough to barely scrape by.
The preliminary results of the agricultural census show the share of the large farms has significantly gone up from 15% of the total farming land two years ago to 47%. This is the first good sign for having the agriculture turn into a business, though not enough considering the rest is held by small farmers unable to produce more than they need themselves and not contributing products to the commercial circuit. “The large farms are the basis for any modern agriculture. This is why the Farming Law stipulates incentives for them because they are the only ones that can offer low-cost quality products,” Agriculture minister Ilie Sarbu on Sunday said. He feels agricultural profit only comes with large farms, because unlike the small farmers, such entities have more financing options available. What should a large farm look like? “It should work more than 110 hectares, have the necessary equipment, a very good crop plan imposed by the market and not the other way round, low consumption, an irrigation system, specialised personnel or at least a specialised consultant. It also needs to be able to get loans and strictly observe the best season for the works,” Sarbu explains.
“Porumboiu, Anghel, Niculae, as well as many others are businessmen and also successful farmers, though only because they created large farms. Some of them got burnt with the wheat and rape crops this year, but their corn and sunflower crops allow them to recover. There is no danger of bankruptcy for them because they did not rely on only one type of crop. Furthermore all of them got their damaged crops insured,” Sarbu says. stelian.negrea@zf.ro