Huge investment in irrigating farmland in Romania
The big investment is alongside another €400m available for farmers to develop irrigation systems on the land covered by the water pumping system developed by the state.
In 2023, although the water pumping system covered 1.4m ha, only 540,000ha was plugged into a field irrigation system.
Another irrigation project Romania is developing is the gravity-fed Siret-Baragan channel, which is supposed to bring water from the northeastern part of Romania to the farming-intensive southeastern region of Baragan.
Work on a 33km section of the 198km channel will begin in September and is expected to last three years.
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Its completion is estimated to cost €800m and will provide water to 380,000ha of arable land.
The water will use gravity to move the water along – this is proposed to cost less.
Romania’s agriculture is characterised by a polarised structure with a very large number of small individual holdings, many of which are practising agriculture on small plots of land for their own consumption, and several thousands of large companies.
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Romania is the country with the highest number of farmers in the EU, amounting to almost 3.5m.
However, 90% of these are small farms of less than five hectares.
Romania is one of the biggest producers of cereals in the EU and the largest producer of sunflower seeds, honey and plums.
These investments are seen as vital for enhancing agricultural productivity and sustainability.
