The soaring prices of agricultural products in recent months have raised investors' interest in cultivating grain on ever-larger areas, which is driving up the price of agricultural land.
At present, the average price per one hectare of agricultural land stands at 1,500 euros and players in the field say this is going to triple in the next three years.
"People are starting to invest. After we joined the EU, prices started to go up, with a trend to come into line with European levels that can reach as much as 10,000 euros. (...)," Viorel Matei, chairman of the National Federation of Romanian Farmers, told ZF.
On agricultural ad websites, hundreds of farmers have shown an interest in buying land, most opting for compact areas.
Wheat prices have reached record highs in the past few months, and have traded domestically at as much as 250 euros per tonne (900 RON/tonne), namely 0.24 euros/kg (0.86 RON/kg), after the value of wheat in April was 150% higher than in the same period of last year. The same is happening in the case of sunflower and maize, with prices having doubled and even tripled.
Major farmers, who hold over 10,000 hectares and want to expand, are also finding it hard to find compact areas. This comes as grain production is expected to surge by over 70% this year from 2007, in the context where prices will stay high because of the agricultural product shortage registered globally in the past year.
Stefan Poenaru, who manages over 14,000 hectares through Agrofam Fetesti, says the laws on land movement and on land pooling should be worked out for agriculture in order for it to become profitable.
Seen as a non-lucrative field for a long time, agriculture has started to attract businessmen's attention especially in the past year, after agricultural product prices tripled against the previous year amid the high global demand both for consumption and for bio-fuel production. Prices have also been boosted by foreign investors' rising interest in the unexploited land of Romania, with an extremely high growth potential. Despite the law banning them from buying land from Romania until 2014, foreigners can buy from small farmers if they register a firm in Romania.
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