Limba Engleza Agricultura Ifr

Departamentul de Studii pentru Învăţământ cu Frecvenţă Redusă
(DIFRED-FA)
SPECIALIZAREA: AGRICULTURĂ
Lect. univ. dr. Elena NISTOR
LIMBA ENGLEZĂ
Bucureşti
- 2012 -
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author would like to thank:

- the United Nations Information Center in Bucharest for providing some of the source
materials consulted in the preparation of this book;
- Sen. Lect. Viorel Ion, Lect. Lenuţa-Iuliana Epure and Prof. Ştefan Diaconescu (The
University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest), Dr h.c. Jochem
Gierhats and Mr. Wilfried Weiller (The Eastern European Center, University of Hohenheim),
for their assistance in providing the textbook on ecological agriculture.
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This book is aimed at training the second-year students of the Agricultural Facutly (part-time
programme) to develop their written and oral skills, and become autonomous in their
communication by acquiring in-depth knowledge of the English vocabulary pertaining to
agriculture and related domains.
The final objectives of the learning units include the students’ ability:
- to understand and interpret detailed information in a particular area of expertise;
- to express personal opinions on specialist topics by using appropriate lexical items;
- to write an argumentative text on a specific concept or subject.
The check-up and evaluation tests at the end of each unit of study, as well as the final test, are
aimed at assessing the students’ knowledge accumulated during the learning process.
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CONTENTS
UNIT 1 THE AGRARIAN ECONOMIES OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN

EUROPE …………………………………………………………………….. 5
UNIT 2 COMPETITIVENESS …………………………………………………….. 17
UNIT 3 ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF AGRICULTURAL TRADE

LIBERALIZATION ……………………………………………………….. 31
UNIT 4 ECONOMIC GROWTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL GAIN …………... 43
UNIT 5 THE FEATURES OF AGRICULTURAL NONPOINT SOURCE

POLLUTION ………………………………………………………………. 55
UNIT 6 SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE ………………………………………. 67
UNIT 7 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

………………………………………………………………………………. 80
EVALUATION TEST ……………………………………………………………………. 93
SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS ……………………………………………………………. 97
USEFUL LISTS
- PLANTS ………………………………………………………………………….. 112
- ANIMALS ………………………………………………………………………... 115
- THE MAIN IRREGULAR VERBS ……............................................................. 116
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Contents Page
UNIT 1
Topic: The Agrarian Economies of Central and Eastern Europe 5
Objectives 5
Allocated time (hours) 5
Key words 5
Text 6
Exercises 7
Supplementary reading 10
Remember! 12
Check-up test 12
Selected bibliography 14
Notes 14
UNIT 1
THE AGRARIAN ECONOMIES
OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
OBJECTIVES
After completing Unit 1
- you will improve your communication abilities (speaking and writing) in order
to provide information on the agrarian economies of Central and Eastern Europe
by using words pertaining to the specific vocabulary presented in this unit;
- you will develop your language abilities by using specialist lexical items in order
to express your opinions on the topic, both orally and in writing.
Allocated time / unit: 4 hours
Key words: agrarian economies, market economy, private ownership, agricultural resources,
arable land, natural resources, world food trade, transition process, private family farm,
agricultural output
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Exercise 1. Read the text in the left column and sum up the main ideas:
The agrarian economies of Central and

Eastern Europe (CEE) are still undergoing a
systemic change and transformation. These
countries made the right choice in setting
their overall goals and policies for transition
to a market economy. Under the present
economic and political conditions in the
region, there is no alternative to the creation
of a market economy based on private
ownership.
The region has a substantial part of
the world’s agricultural resources: in 1994,
it comprised 13% of the global area suitable
for agricultural production and 19.7% of
arable land, and it also makes an important
contribution to world agricultural output.
Yet, despite abundant natural resources
(around 20% of the potential global
resources), the region still plays a small role
in the world food trade, because the agrarian
economy of the region is still struggling to
adjust to economic reality.
The initial expectations for
transformation were too optimistic and the
transition process is far more complex than
anyone imagined in 1990-91. The results of
the reform process have not yet occurred,
because of the struggle between
conservative and progressive forces and
particularly of the incomplete application of
the basic element of farming: the private
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family farm.
However, if at the beginning of the
1990s the region was characterized by a
considerable decline in production, the first
signs of recovery can already be discovered.
In all the countries of Central-Eastern
Europe, the relatively rapid decline in
production stopped in 1993-94 and, from
1995 until the present, the agricultural
output has been increasing, even if at a
moderate rate. It seems that, in most CEE
countries, the process of sector
transformation will be completed within the
next four or five years.
Exercise 2. Give synonyms for the following:

to undergo …………………………………………………………………………
change ……………………………………………………………………………..
overall ……………………………………………………………………………..
ownership ………………………………………………………………………….
substantial ………………………………………………………………………….
suitable .…………………………………………………………………………….
abundant …..………………………………………………………………………..
to struggle …………………………………………………………………………..
to adjust ….……………..…………………………………………………………..
to occur ..…………………………..………………………………………………..
Exercise 3. Complete the following sentences with the suitable words:

1. The …………… economies of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) …………… the right
choice in …………… their overall goals and policies for …………… to a market economy.
2. Yet, …………… abundant natural resources (around 20% of the …………… global
resources), the region still …………… a small role in the world ………………
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3. The results of the …………… process have not …………… occurred, because of the
struggle between ………………and …………… forces and particularly of the incomplete
application of the …………… element of farming: the private family farm.
4. However, if at the beginning of the ……………, the region was …………… by a
considerable …………… in production, the first signs of …………… can already be
discovered.
5. It …………… that, in most …………… countries, the process of sector …………… will
be completed …………… the next four or five years.
Exercise 4. Find the appropriate definition (a-g) for each of the words below (1-7):
1) former a) one’s own, individual, personal
2) private b) (land) fit for tillage
3) arable c) to find out something unknown; to
4) reform suddenly realize
5) conservative d) disposed to maintain existing
6) to discover institutions
7) sign e) improvement made by removal of
imperfections and faults
f) mark, trace, evidence
g) of the past or an earlier period
Exercise 5. Translate the following text into English:

Pentru asigurarea hranei populaţiei globului, este necesară creşterea producţiei
agricole, care se poate face pe cale extensivă, prin luarea în cultură a unor noi suprafeţe de
teren (operaţie destul de dificilă şi costisitoare), dar mai ales pe cale intensivă prin creşterea
producţiilor pe unitatea de suprafaţă sau pe cap de animal. Pentru creşterea producţiilor pe
unitatea de suprafaţă sau pe cap de animal, un rol deosebit îi revine cercetării agricole,
serviciului de extensie şi consultanţă, dar şi educaţiei agricole realizată la diferite nivele
(educaţie medie, superioară, continuă, la distanţă etc.).
Astfel, cercetarea trebuie să creeze soiuri/hibrizi de plante de cultură şi rase de
animale care să aibă o capacitate ridicată de producţie, acolo unde se pot asigura condiţii
foarte bune sau bune de creştere şi dezvoltare, sau să poată realiza producţii satisfăcătoare-
bune acolo unde condiţile de creştere şi dezvoltare nu sunt dintre cele mai favorabile (secetă,
frig, sol sărac etc.). De asemenea, cercetarea trebuie să conceapă tehnologii de cultivare a
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plantelor şi de creştere a animalelor tot mai performante şi adaptate diferitelor condiţii de
mediu şi economice. Consultanţa trebuie să facă cunoscute aceste realizări ale cercetării
agricole şi să-i ajute şi sprijine pe cultivatori în rezolvarea unor probleme sau atingerea
anumitor obiective. În fine, prin educaţie, agricultorii trebuie învăţaţi cum să cultive plantele
şi să crească animalele astfel încât producţiile să fie cât mai mari, de calitate, eficiente
economic şi obţinute în condiţiile protecţiei mediului.
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SUPPLEMENTARY READING
Country Analysis: ROMANIA

Status of Reform
Macroeconomic Framework for Agriculture

Food and agriculture operate in a macroeconomic and trade environment with direct links to
the world market. Lack of private insitutions, price transparency, high transport costs and
poor logistics inhibit market development.
Prices-Subsidies
- Gradual price liberalization started October 1990. Agricultural producer and consumer
prices were liberalized February 1997. No minimum price schemes.
- Producer prices are around their border parity, and below European Union (EU) levels.
Large share of the production is not marketed. Consumer prices are at their export parity, or
slightly above in the case of importables, but below UE levels.
- Regional price variation is significant, due to high transport costs, poor logistic and
arbitrage. Absence of market information system contributes to regionalization of domestic
trade in food products.
- Intention to institute a minimum price scheme for wheat starting 1997-98.
- Subsidies for agriculture reduced in 1997. However, they still account 2% GDP (about 4000
billion lei, equivalent to USD 570 million). One third of the subsidies have been used to pay
contingent liabilities for 1995-96 harvest (interest rates subsidies, arrears for producer
subsidies like premiums).
Trade Policies
- Tariffs for food and agriculture products reduced from a trade-weighted average of 80% to
27% starting June 1997.
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- Licensing and quotas for exports and imports removed starting June 1997. Preferential
import quotas maintained in the framework of the bi- and multilateral trade agreements.
- Romania joined CEFTA in 1997; the agreements with CEFTA, EU and Moldova are
providing a framework for increased sub-regional agriculture trade.
- Agricultural foreign trade is fully privatized and demonopolized.
Taxation
- Agricultural taxes are generally lower than other sectors. Profit tax on primary production is
25%, versus 38% the regular rate. Some agricultural products are either tax except, or benefit
from a lower rate of VAT.
- An “agricultural revenue tax” was legislated in 1995, but not implemented. The tax is based
on the land owned (it is a land tax). However, until 1999 the tax will not be applied.
- Informal sector, that accounts for most of the agricultural production, is not taxed.
Objectives; Proposed Actions
Macroeconomic Framework for Agriculture

Liberal incentive and market system with minimal government intervention. Support for the
development of private market organizations, market information systems and better
infrastructure and logistics.
Prices-Subsidies
- Create predictable and consistent system of various government policy instruments used in
agriculture.
- Revise existing support programs and continue the reduction of budgetary support in real
terms.
- Focus support programs on efficiency enhancement.
- Avoid the use of minimal price programs and related programs, if any, to world market
prices rather than average cost of production.
- Develop and support initiatives for market information system (price and output).
Trade Policies
- Pursue the reduction in import tariffs further, to achieve a trade-weighted average of 22% in
1998.
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- Pursue active trade policy to improve market access for Romanian food and agriculture
products.
Taxation
- Improve tax administration and tax collection in general.
- Increase taxation of informal segments of agriculture while continuing to decrease taxation
of formal sector as well as reported personal incomes.
- Provide increased tax incentives for investment from properly reported corporate and
personal incomes.
REMEMBER!
The agrarian economies of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) are undergoing a systemic
change and transformation.
The region has a substantial part of the world’s agricultural resources, but the region still
plays a small role in the world food trade, as the agrarian economy of the region is still
struggling to adjust to economic reality.
The initial expectations for transformation were too optimistic and the transition process is far
more complex than anyone imagined in 1990-91. The results of the reform process have not
yet occurred, because of the struggle between conservative and progressive forces and
particularly of the incomplete application of the basic element of farming: the private family
farm.
CHECK-UP TEST
Read the following text carefully and write a 300-word essay on the topic:
Economies of the countries in transition of Central and Eastern Europe marked a respectable
growth for the third consecutive year in 2001. Real GDP in these countries grew at a rate of
4.9% in 2001, although this figure was less than that of the previous year (6.3%).
As in the preceding two years, the strongest performance was recorded in the CIS, with an
estimated growth of 6.1% (5.8% in the Russian Federation and 6.8% in the remaining
countries of the CIS), while growth in the Central and Eastern European countries was an
estimated 3.0%. The slightly weaker performance is largely a consequence of lower growth
rates in the region’s chief gas and oil producers – Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, the Russian
Federation and Turkmenistan – as well as the slowdown in economic growth in Poland, the
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largest economy in Central and Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, the fastest-growing economies
of the region in 2001 were primarily oil and gas producers.
Net agricultural production (crop and livestock) in the transition economies grew more than
GDP in 2001, at 5.9%. The poor harvest in 2000 in most of the region, particularly in Central
and Eastern Europe, was a factor in this improvement. Agricultural output in the countries of
the former Soviet Union marked a positive growth in 2001 for the third consecutive year,
while in Eastern Europe output growth in 2001 followed three preceding years of declining
production. Net agricultural production grew fastest in Turkmenistan (38%), Azerbaijan
(25%), Hungary (17%), Romania (16%) and Georgia (13%).
Seen from a longer-term perspective, the most recent trends in the growth rates of GDP and
net agricultural production are quite promising.
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SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Csaki, Csaba, John Nash, The Agrarian Economies of Central and Eastern Europe and
the Commonwealth of Independent States. Situation and Perspectives, World Bank
Discussion Paper No. 3871997
Agricultural Price Policies. Issues and Proposals, Rome: Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations, 1987
The State of Food and Agriculture 2002, Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations, 2002
NOTES
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Contents Page
UNIT 2
Topic: Competitiveness 19
Objectives 19
Key words 19
Text 19
Exercises 21
Remember! 24
Check-up test 26
Notes
UNIT 2
COMPETITIVENESS
OBJECTIVES
to provide information on economic competitiveness by using words pertaining to
the specific vocabulary presented in this unit;
Key words: competitiveness, profitable customers, market position, market share, supplier,
unit cost, productivity, profit margin, exchange rate, strategy
Competitiveness at a firm level refers to a
company’s ability to attract profitable
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customers and to sustain its market position
or increase market share. Other definitions
have also been brought forward: according
to one, world competitiveness is the
capability of a company to generate more
wealth than its competitors in the world
markets. Another definition states that when
applied to the individual firm, international
competitiveness suggests that the firm is
active in international markets and competes
successfully with other suppliers in those
markets. Superior competitiveness finds its
expression in growing market shares and
successful entry to new markets.
Competitiveness can be decomposed
in four factors: unit cost, productivity, profit
margin and exchange rate. Behind these
factors there are many important social and
institutional forces that have an impact on
competitiveness. It is also been proposed
that the main determinant of international
competitiveness would be the capacity to
continually improve and innovate, and that
the competitive sectors in a national
economy are not separate, but form clusters
of interconnected industries.
An essential element in analysing
competitiveness impacts is understanding
how firms compete. Firms can gain
competitive advantage through cost of
leadership, offering products with superior
value that justify a premium price, or
focusing on a specific buyer group, segment
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or geographical market. These strategies can
be used either alone or in different
combinations.
So-called address models should be
used for analysing competitiveness. The key
aspect of such address models is that goods
are viewed as a package of characteristics
embodied in them. Each good is defined by
its location in a continuous characteristic
space, and consumers’ tastes are defined
over characteristics, not goods.

firm ………………………………………………………………………………..
ability ……………………………………………………………………………..
customer …………………………………………………………………………..
to sustain …………………………………………………………………………..
to state ……………………………………………………………………………..
to decompose ……………………………………………………………………..
cluster ……………………………………………………………………………..
premium …………………………………………………………………………..
location ……………………………………………………………………………..
to lie …………………………………………………………………………….….
Exercise 3. Complete the following sentences with suitable words:

1. Competitiveness at a firm ……………. refers to a company’s ability to attract
……………… customers and to sustain its market …………. or increase market
………………
2. Superior competitiveness finds its ………………… in growing market …………….. and
successful ………………. to new markets.
3. ……………….. can be decomposed in four factors: …………… cost, productivity, profit
……………….. and ………………. rate.
4. The main ……………….. of international competitiveness is the capacity to continually
………………… and ………………..
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5. The key aspect of the ……………….. address models is that goods are …………….. as a
package of characteristics ………………. in them.
1) company a) to propose something for acceptance
2) position or rejection
3) to bring forward b) body of persons combined for
4) wealth common object
5) to suggest c) to carry sum of page’s figures to next
6) segment page
7) to view d) place occupied by a thing; rank,
status
e) part cut off or separable from other
parts of a thing
f) to survey with the eyes or mentally
g) welfare, prosperity, abundance

Agricultura a devenit în decursul timpului o ramură de bază a economiei naţionale a
tuturor ţărilor. Din 141 de ţări care există în baza de date a ONU, în 61 de ţări agricultura
produce peste 20% din produsul intern brut, în 52 de ţări agricultura produce peste o treime
din produsul intern brut, iar în 18 ţări agricultura are cea mai mare pondere în formarea
produsului intern brut.
Produsele agroalimentare reprezintă o deosebită importanţă comercială, atât în ceea ce
priveşte comerţul intern cât şi comerţul extern. Mai mult decât atât, rezervele de produse
agricole au o importanţă strategică în caz de secetă, calamităţi sau pentru a influenţa într-un
sens sau altul comerţul agroalimentar pe plan naţional sau internaţional. Se poate vorbi de o
„putere alimentară” a ţărilor care dispun de astfel de rezerve de produse agroalimentare, şi din
păcate chiar de o „armă alimentară” utilizată de către cei bogaţi împotriva celor săraci şi
înfometaţi.
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The question of how harmful the economic activity is to the environment plays an important
part in determining how significant competitive impacts can occur if the external costs are
internalized. While some sectors may have serious impacts on the environment, others may
not have any effects that exceed the assimilative capacity of nature. In this context, the energy
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and raw material use intensity of a sector, considering the difference between renewable and
unrenewable resources, as well as its pollution intensity in terms of effluent discharges,
atmospheric emissions, and solid and hazardous wastes should be taken into consideration.
Pollution intensity can be used to give an initial indication of the magnitude of the
potential cost increase in a sector because it indirectly measures the remaining environmental
externality that has not been internalized. Thus, pollution intensity links to the maximum
potential cost increase if full environmental cost internalization.
The degree to which a sector will move in the internalization continuum depends on
the internalization of the regulatory and market pressure, or on the absence of pressure.
Whereas incurred pollution abatement expenditure measures what has already been
internalized, pollution intensity measures what remains to be internalized, therefore it can be
indicative of future competitiveness impacts.
The resource use intensity factor is analogous to that of pollution intensity. The more a
firm uses energy and raw materials, particularly unrenewable ones, the more it may have to
make changes in the production processes due to environmental pressures.
REMEMBER!
Competitiveness at a firm level refers to a company’s ability to attract profitable customers
and to sustain its market position or increase market share.
Competitiveness can be decomposed in four factors: unit cost, productivity, profit margin and
exchange rate.
An essential element in analysing competitiveness impacts is to understand how firms
compete.
CHECK-UP TEST
The linkages between agriculture, trade and the environment have emerged in the context of
multilateral trade liberalization in agriculture. The environmental impacts of agricultural
policy and trade reforms are complex and not well understood, partly because there is only
limited empirical research examining the environmental impacts of specific agricultural
policy instruments. In addition, while a large number of theoretical studies dealing with
agricultural trade liberalization have been undertaken, only modest attention has been paid to
the likely environmental impacts.
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Furthermore, it may be difficult to distinguish whether environmental impacts are brought by
trade liberalization or domestic policy reforms. This has to do with the fact that increased
trade flows owing to agricultural trade liberalization have mainly indirect effects on the
environment through complex changes in the location, intensity, product-mix and technology
of agricultural production, factors that are also affected by domestic agricultural policies.
Thus, the environmental effects of agricultural trade liberalization are channelled through
domestic agricultural policies and their impact on production patterns and via these on the
environment. Hence, the integration of environmental considerations into domestic
agricultural policies may play an important role when realizing full environmental and
economic benefits from agricultural trade liberalization.
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Alanen, Leena, The Impact of Environmental Cost Internalization on Sectoral
Competitiveness: A New Conceptual Framework, Discussion Papers No. 119September
1996
Agricultural Price Policies, Issues and Proposals, Rome: Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations, 1987
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Contents Page
UNIT 3
Topic: Environmental Effects of Agricultural Trade Liberalization 31
Objectives 31
Key words 31
Text 32
Exercises 33
Remember! 36
Check-up test 36
Notes 38
UNIT 3
ENVIRONMETAL EFFECTS
OF AGRICULTURAL TRADE LIBERALIZATION
OBJECTIVES
to provide information on the liberalization of agricultural trade and its
environmental effects by using words pertaining to the specific vocabulary
presented in this unit;
Key words: trade liberalization, production intensity, environmental effects, area expansion.
agricultural sectors, environmental impact, policy reform, policy failure, environmental policy
instruments, policy goals
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Multilateral trade liberalization in

agriculture is commonly expected to
produce environmental benefits in
developed countries due to reduced
production intensity. By contrast,
environmental effects may be negative in
developing countries due to increased
production intensity and area expansion. If
liberalization lowered the relative prices
received by farmers in developed countries,
as a result of expanded access to their
markets and reduced subsidies, and raised
relative prices in developing countries, the
pressure on environment would fall in the
former, but would rise with prices in the
latter. While the environmental effects of
trade liberalization are critical for all
countries, they may be particularly
important in developing countries, because
these countries often have large agricultural
sectors, and trade liberalization can lead to
relatively large changes in trade, and
economic growth, and possibly large
coincident environmental impacts.
Agricultural policy reform and trade
liberalization are a necessary but not
sufficient condition for sustainable
development in agriculture, and they must
be accompanied by appropriate
environmental policies. This is valid even
for countries where environmental benefits
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are expected to arise as a result of policy
reforms and trade liberalization. In other
words, agricultural policy reform and trade
liberalization actually correct some policy
failures. However, some market failures still
exist and can be corrected through
environmental policy instruments.
Thus, trade liberalization and
optimal environmental policy interventions
are both needed to achieve economic
efficiency. Trade policy goals and
environmental policy goals should be paid
equal attention to ensure that specific policy
instruments are used to address each policy
objective in order to fulfil the cost efficiency
criterion.

multilateral ………………………………………………………………………..
commonly …………………………………………………………………………..
contrast ……………………………………………………………………………..
expansion …………………………………………………………………………..
to lower ……………………………………………………………………………..
to receive .…………………………………………………………………………..
appropriate ..………………………………………………………………………..
optimal ……………………………………………………………………………..
to fulfil ……………………………………………………………………………..
sufficient …………………………………………………………………………..

1. ………………… trade liberalization in agriculture is commonly ………………to produce
environmental ……………… in developed countries due to reduced production …………….
2. Trade ……………….. can lead to relatively large changes in trade, ……………… growth
and possibly large …………………… environmental impact.
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3. Agricultural policy ……………… and ………….. liberalization are a ………………. but
not ………………condition for sustainable development in agriculture.
4. Some market ……………… still exist and can be ……………….. through environmental
………………… instruments.
5. …………….. policy goals and ………………. policy goals should be paid equal attention
to ……………… that specific policy instruments are used to ……………… each policy
objective.
1) former a) involving risk or suspense; fault-finding
2) latter b) to rise, to originate, to result from
3) critical c) coinciding, occurring at the same time
4) coincident d) the first, or first mentioned, of two
5) to accompany e) second-mentioned, later
6) valid f) to go with, to coexist with
7) to arise g) sound, defensible, well-grounded

Agricultura ecologică a luat naştere la începutul secolului XX, dar principiile
agriculturii ecologice au fost difuzate după cel de-al doilea război mondial de către
consumatorii şi medicii preocupaţi de efectul alimentelor asupra sănătăţii oamenilor.
Motivele orientării către agricultura ecologică în anii ‘70 sunt legate de experienţa
negativă determinată de utilizarea produselor chimice de sinteză şi problemele de sănătate
apărute. La aceasta se adaugă şi dependenţa de materii prime şi energie la costuri din ce în ce
mai ridicate.
În anii ’80 se dezvoltă conştiinţa responsabilităţii faţă de mediul înconjurător, iar la
începutul anilor ‘90, în ţările occidentale se înregistrează o supraproducţie de alimente,
saturarea şi liberalizarea pieţelor agricole, fapt ce determină orientarea producătorilor agricoli
şi a consumatorilor către agricultura ecologică.
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Together with domestic agricultural policy reforms, agricultural trade liberalization be

expected to reduce environmental pressure from agriculture in the developed countries. In
some areas, such as North America and Oceania, where production is expected to increase,
many of the appropriate environmental and resource conservation policies are already in place
to alleviate environmental damage associated with partially liberalized trade. Another
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question is what will happen in regions like Western Europe and Japan, where a decline in
production, while reducing some adverse effects on the environment, may also result in the
removal of agricultural land from production and may thus decrease some amenity values
relating to agricultural countryside.
The environmental impacts of agricultural trade liberalization and domestic policy
reforms in developing countries are more ambiguous. The role of income growth due to
agricultural trade liberalization may not be sufficient to ensure environmental quality
improvements in agriculture. Increased production may also, either at the intensive or
extensive margin of production, imply more pressure on the environment. Thus, integrating
environmental considerations into domestic agricultural policies is essential when developing
countries begin to exploit their comparative advantage in agricultural production.
REMEMBER!
Multilateral trade liberalization in agriculture is commonly expected to produce
environmental benefits in developed countries due to reduced production intensity. By
contrast, environmental effects may be negative in developing countries due to increased
production intensity and area expansion.
Agricultural policy reform and trade liberalization are a necessary but not sufficient condition
for sustainable development in agriculture, and they must be accompanied by appropriate
environmental policies.
Trade liberalization and optimal environmental policy interventions are both needed to
achieve economic efficiency.
CHECK-UP TEST
What happened in the United States and Eastern Europe is convincing evidence that, in the
modern industrial world, prosperity is essential for environmental groups.
In the United States, economic expansion created the capital to finance superior
environmental performance. At about the same time, Poland, Hungary, Romania, East
Germany, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union were undergoing an environmental
catastrophe that will take many years and thousands of millions of dollars to correct. In
Eastern Europe, whole cities are blackened by thick dust. Chemicals make up a substantial
percentage of river flows. Nearly two-thirds of the length of the Vistula, Poland’s longest
36
river, is unsuitable even for industrial use. The Older River, which forms most of Poland’s
border with eastern Germany, is useless over 80 percent of its length. Parts of Poland, eastern
Germany and Romania are literally uninhabitable; zones of ecological disaster cover more
than a quarter of Poland’s land area. Millions of Soviets live in cities with dangerously
polluted air.
The former Soviet Union and much of the rest of Eastern Europe are plagued by
premature deaths, high infant mortality rates, chronic lung disorders and other disabling
illnesses. The economic drain from these environmental burdens, in terms of disability
benefits, health care and lost productivity is enormous - 15 percent or more of GNP,
according to one Eastern European government minister.
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Lankoski, Jussi, Environmental Effects of Agricultural Trade Liberalization and
Domestic Agricultural Policy Reforms, Discussion Papers No. 126April 1997
Globalization and Liberalization. Development in the Face of Two Powerful Currents,
New York & Geneva: United Nations, 1996
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Contents Page
UNIT 4
Topic: Economic Growth and Environmental Gain 43
Objectives 43
Key words 43
Text 44
Exercises 45
Remember! 48
Check-up test 49
Notes 50
UNIT 4
ECONOMIC GROWTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL GAIN
OBJECTIVES
to provide information on the environmental benefits dervied from economic
development by using words pertaining to the specific vocabulary presented in
this unit;
Key words: economic expansion, living standards, economically advanced societies, air and
water pollution, urban congestion, disposal of hazardous wastes, destruction of wildlife,
degradation of ecosystems, natural systems, environmental improvement
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Historically, economic expansion has led to

the exploitation of natural resources with
little or no concern for their renewal.
Growing populations, demands for higher
living standards, and widespread access to
the necessities of modern life in
economically advanced societies, and even
in developing countries, have created
steadily increasing pressures on the
environment. These include air and water
pollution, urban congestion, the careless
disposal of hazardous wastes, the
destruction of wildlife, and the degradation
of valuable ecosystems. Furthermore, the
by-products of rapid industrialization are
altering the chemical composition of the
Earth’s atmosphere, depleting stratospheric
ozone and adding to atmospheric carbon
dioxide.
Economic development based on
unsustainable resource use cannot continue
indefinitely without endangering the
carrying capacity of the planet. Old growth
patterns must change quickly, in order to
ensure the long-term integrity of the natural
systems that sustain life on earth.
To achieve sustainable growth -
growth consistent with the needs and
constraints of nature - we need to secure the
link between environmental and economic
policies at all levels of government and in
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all sectors of the economy. Harmonizing
economic expansion with environmental
protection requires recognition that there are
environmental benefits to growth, just as
there are economic benefits flowing from
healthy natural systems. Most
environmentalists realize this, and a growing
number are working creatively toward new
policies that serve the long-term interests of
both the environment and the economy.
How does economic growth benefit
the environment? Growth raises
expectations and creates demands for
environmental improvement. As income
levels and standards of living rise and
people satisfy their basic needs for food,
shelter and clothing, they can afford to pay
attention to the quality of their lives and the
condition of their habitat. Once the present
seems relatively secure, people can focus on
the future.

expansion …………………………………………………………….……………..
exploitation …………………………………………………………..……………..
demand ……………………………………………………………………………..
disposal ……………………………………………………………………………..
to alter ………………………………………………………………..……………..
to endanger ……………………………………………………………..…………..
pattern …………………………………………………………………..…………..
constraint ………………………………………………………………..…………..
to require …………………………………………………………………..………..
improvement ………………………………………………………………….……..
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1. The .......................... by-products of rapid industrialization ............................. the chemical
composition of the Earth’s atmosphere.
2. Economic development based on unsustainable resource use cannot continue
......................... without ......................... the carrying capacity of the planet.
3. To achieve ........................... growth, we need to secure the link between environmental and
economic ......................... at all levels of government and in all sectors of economy.
4. Growth raises ......................... and creates ............................ for environmental
improvement.
5. As ...................... levels and ................................ rise, people satisfy their basic needs for
food, shelter and clothing.
1) standard a) course of action adopted by government,
2) to deplete party, etc.
3) hazardous b) to make safe; to secure
4) by-product c) thing produced incidentally in
5) to ensure manufacturing something else
6) policy d) weight or measure to which others
7) habitat conform
e) natural home of plant or animal; dwelling-
place
f) risky; dependent on chance
g) to empty out; to exhaust

Agricultura durabilă poate fi definită într-un singur cuvânt prin permanenţă, aceasta
presupunând tehnici de menţinere a fertilităţii solului, utilizarea pe cât posibil a resurselor
regenerabile, protecţia mediului şi stimularea activităţii biologice la nivelul solului şi în cadrul
tuturor ciclurilor de producere a alimentelor.
Durabilitatea reprezintă caracteristica unui sistem de a-şi menţine performanţele în timp.
Un sistem poate fi considerat durabil atunci când sunt asigurate toate mijloacele
individuale de existenţă, fără a se compromite posibilitatea generaţiilor viitoare de a-şi
satisface necesităţile din aceleaşi resurse naturale de bază.
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Durabilitatea se bazează pe principiul satisfacerii cerinţelor prezentului fără a se
compromite posibilitatea generaţiilor viitoare de a-şi satisface propriile lor cerinţe.
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Every day, we read more and more about the dangers of global warming, a phenomenon that
is becoming very common in our lives.
The basic idea behind the greenhouse effect is simple. Energy from the sun, mostly in
the form of visible light, pours into the atmosphere all the time. Some of this energy is
reflected by clouds; the rest is absorbed by and heats the earth. In return, the heated earth
sends the energy back into space as invisible infrared radiation. There are some gases in the
atmosphere - carbon dioxide, methane (natural gas), and water vapour being the most
common - that absorb infrared radiation, acting as a kind of blanket to retain the heat. These
gases have always been present, and there has always been a greenhouses effect on our planet.
The real question is whether human activities are amplifying it.
Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, we have been burning fossil fuels to
drive our industries, pouring carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in huge quantities (about
5,000 million tons of carbon per year at last count). It is estimated that the amount of carbon
dioxide has already increased by 25 percent above pre-industrial levels. If present trends
continue, the greenhouse gases are expected to double in the first half of the next century.
The question for scientists is: how will this increase affect the Earth’s climate? Most
scientists believe that the Earth will warm, but only from two to four degrees Celsius, and
some scientists argue for a warming of only half a degree or so. The scientific data seem to
indicate that warming will take place by having night-time temperatures rise, while daytime
temperatures remain the same.
REMEMBER!
Historically, economic expansion has led to the exploitation of natural resources with little or
no concern for their renewal. Growing populations, demands for higher living standards, and
widespread access to the necessities of modern life in economically advanced societies, and
even in developing countries, have created steadily increasing pressures on the environment.
Economic development based on unsustainable resource use cannot continue indefinitely
without endangering the carrying capacity of the planet.
To achieve sustainable growth - growth consistent with the needs and constraints of nature -
we need to secure the link between environmental and economic policies at all levels of
government and in all sectors of the economy
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Once the present seems relatively secure, people can focus on the future.
CHECK-UP TEST
The uncertainty of information is a significant hindrance to efficient and environmentally
effective pollution control. In agriculture, this uncertainty is increased by such factors as
climatic conditions and soil characteristics which partly explain different pollution levels in
different areas and years.
Monitoring nonpoint sources pollution creates additional problems and uncertainty,
such as: (i) the inability to observe emissions, (ii) the inability to infer emissions from
observable inputs, and (iii) the inability to infer emissions from ambient environmental
quality. In general, the inability to observe emissions is the most problematic feature of
nonpoint source pollution, and the feature that most distinguishes it from point source
pollution.
Monitoring agricultural effluents is impractical as effluents are, by definition, diffuse.
Many agricultural pollutants are closely associated with specific and observable production
inputs like fertilizers and pesticides. However, the pollution resulting from a given quantity of
application may not depend only on total quantity applied but also on weather, soil
characteristics, crop uptake, topography, the timing of application, etc. The inability to infer
emissions from observed ambient environmental quality is the result both of the influence of
other polluting farmers and of natural randomness.
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Reilly, William K., “Economic Growth and Environmental Gain” – in Our World, Our
EnvironmentSeptember 1991
Trefil, James, “Earth’s Future Climate” – in Our World, Our EnvironmentSeptember 1991
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Contents Page
UNIT 5
Topic: The Features of Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution 55
Objectives 55
Key words 55
Text 56
Exercises 57
Remember! 60
Check-up test 60
Notes 62
UNIT 5
THE FEATURES OF AGRICULTURAL
NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION
OBJECTIVES
to provide information on nonpoint source pollution in agriculture by using words
pertaining to the specific vocabulary presented in this unit;
Key words: agricultural production system, nutrient cycle, crop system, particulate form,
water pollution, agricultural runoff, point source pollution, nonpoint source pollution, nutrient
leakages, to diffuse
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Nitrogen and phosphorus are important

inputs to agricultural production systems.
The nutrients introduced in fertilizers and
manure or fixed by legumes become part of
the nutrient cycle in the soil and crop system
of the farm. Nitrogen is removed from the
system in the harvested crop, or it can be
lost in the atmosphere by volatilization (as
NH3) or by denitrification (as N2 and N2O),
and through leaching as nitrate (NO3).
Nitrogen, in the form of nitrate, is very
mobile in the environment, whereas
phosphorus is relatively immobile and may
build up in the soil over time. Phosphorus
can be lost from the system in soluble form
through leaching, subsurface flow and
surface runoff, and in particulate form when
soil erodes.
Water pollution from agriculture can
take several forms, including surface water
pollution as a result of agricultural runoff of
soil, fertilizer, pesticides or manure, and
groundwater pollution caused by nutrient
and pesticide leakages. Surface and
groundwater pollution may be classified
according to the source of effluent. Point
source pollution refers to discharges at a
specific location through a pipe, outfall or
ditch. Nonpoint source pollution (NPSP), on
the other hand, refers to pollution which
affects waters in a more diffuse way. Point
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source pollution can be traced to a precise
source, whereas nonpoint source pollution is
difficult to trace back to a precise source.
For example, many pollutants from
agriculture are diffused in time as well in
space, making it very difficult and costly to
trace their source. Nutrient leakages from
arable land are typical nonpoint source
pollution, whereas leakages from a manure
storage facility may be classified as point
source pollution. However, most agricultural
pollution can be classified as nonpoint
source pollution.

to harvest …………………………………………………………………………..
to classify …………………………………………………………………………..
location ……………………………………………………………………………..
to affect ……………………………………………………………………………..
costly ……………………………………………………………………………….
to observe …………………………………………………………………………..
feature ……………………………………………………………………………..
variable ……………………………………………………………………………..
to predict …………………………………………………………………………..
outcome ……………………………………………………………………………

1. The nutrients introduced in …………… and ………………. or fixed by …………….
become part of the ……………… cycle.
2. Nitrogen is very ……………. in the environment, whereas phosphorus is …………….
immobile and may ………………. in the soil over time.
3. Water pollution from ……………. can take several forms, including …………….. water
pollution and ……………… pollution.
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4. Point source pollution refers to ……………….. at a specific location through
a…………….., …………….. or ………………….
5. Point source pollution can be ……………… to a precise source, …………… nonpoint
source pollution is difficult to trace …………… to a precise source.
1) to build up a) to destroy gradually, to wear out
2) to leach b) to make gradually, to establish
3) to erode c) surrounding, circumfused
4) ditch d) to make liquid percolate through some
5) to trace material
6) ambient e) reduction, lowering, diminution; weakness
7) abatement f) long narrow excavation to hold or conduct
water
g) to find and follow signs or path of
something

Agricultura ecologică previne impurificarea şi degradarea mediului înconjurător cu
întreg arsenalul chimic al agriculturii contemporane, la care se adaugă aplicarea neraţională,
la întâmplare şi uneori chiar abuzivă a unor lucrări tehnologice (rotaţie, fertilizare, lucrări ale
solului, lucrări de îngrijire) şi reziduurile industriale de transformare a produselor agricole.
Agricultura ecologică nu este o agricultură de tipul “do-nothing”, adică fără fertilizare
şi fără tratamente, şi nu este o simplă întoarcere la metodele utilizate de înaintaşii noştrii.
Modul de producţie ecologic (biologic) diferă de cel convenţional prin faptul că evită
utilizarea îngrăşămintelor chimice şi a pesticidelor, care constituie principala cauză a
problemelor de poluare agricolă actuală. În agricultura ecologică, metodele culturale biologice
şi mecanice sunt utilizate, în măsura posibililului, în locul produselor chimice de sinteză
pentru a îndeplini toate funcţiile specifice sistemului agricol.
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Agriculture has become a major source of nonpoint source pollution in many countries. Direct
pollution caused by agriculture is mainly related to the intensification of farming. The
characteristics of nonpoint source pollution make it very difficult and costly to monitor and
control, making the use of effluent-based instruments unfeasible. Environmental policy
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instruments in agriculture are policy tools which provide incentives for farmers to reduce
environmental damage or produce environmental benefits.
The optimal first-best instrument to internalize an environmental cost cannot be found
until the social damage at different pollution levels can be measured. Hence, some other
criteria are needed to guide the selection of environmental policy instruments towards
optimality. Environmental effectiveness refers to the instrument’s capacity to meet the goals
of environmental quality, and the most cost-efficient instrument achieves these goals at the
least cost. Fairness and equity considerations are also important, since the setting of an
instrument has distributional affects on society. Furthermore, the political acceptability and
administrative practicability of the selected instrument are necessary.
REMEMBER!
Nitrogen and phosphorus are important inputs to agricultural production systems. The
nutrients introduced in fertilizers and manure or fixed by legumes become part of the nutrient
cycle in the soil and crop system of the farm.
Water pollution from agriculture can take several forms, including surface water pollution as
a result of agricultural runoff of soil, fertilizer, pesticides or manure, and groundwater
pollution caused by nutrient and pesticide leakages.
Point source pollution refers to discharges at a specific location through a pipe, outfall or
ditch. Nonpoint source pollution (NPSP), on the other hand, refers to pollution which affects
waters in a more diffuse way.
CHECK-UP TEST
What is certain is that food production inside and outside the European Union will
increasingly be able to keep up with world population growth due to the ability of science to
overcome current agricultural problems – particularly the environmental constraints already
pressing on the agricultural industry.
It is estimated that world food production could easily be doubled in the next forty to
fifty years, as a result of the new technologies.
Major plant-breeding innovations which are likely to make an early contribution to
continued agricultural productivity and production increases include:
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- the development of high-yielding winter wheats with high-protein, or high-lysine,
contents;
- the development of high-yield, high-protein triticales for animal feeding in Europe;
- the development of high-lysine, high-oil, high-starch maize varieties for the
production of food, fuel, chemicals and industrial feedstock;
- the development of new, high-yielding, double-zero rapeseed varieties which will
grow in northern climes;
- the expressing of nitrogen-fixing genes in non-leguminous crops so that dependence
on added nitrates could be substantially reduced.
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Lankoski, Jussi, Controlling Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution: The Case of
Mineral Balances, Discussion Papers No. 116June 1996
Review of Basic Food Policies 2001, Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations, Commodities and Trade Division, 2001
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Contents Page
UNIT 6
Topic: Sustainable Agriculture 67
Objectives 67
Key words 67
Text 68
Exercises 70
Remember! 73
Check-up test 73
Notes 75
UNIT 6
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
OBJECTIVES
to provide information on sustainable agriculture by using words pertaining to the
specific vocabulary presented in this unit;
Key words: soil productivity, environmental quality, profitability, human and animal health,
conventional agriculture, non-conventional agriculture, energy costs, conservation farming
technique, modern technology, external resource
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After World War II, agricultural farms

became highly mechanized and specialized,
as well as heavily dependent on fossil fuels,
borrowed capital and chemical fertilizers
and pesticides. Today, the same farms are
associated with declining soil productivity,
deteriorating environmental quality, reduced
profitability and threats to human and
animal health. A growing part of society is
questioning the environmental, economic
and social impacts of conventional
agriculture. Consequently, many individuals
are seeking alternative practices that would
make agriculture more sustainable.
Sustainable agriculture comprises
several variants of non-conventional
agriculture that are often called organic,
alternative, regenerative, ecological or low-
input. However, just because a farm is
organic or alternative does not mean that it
is sustainable. For a farm to be sustainable,
it must produce adequate amounts of high-
quality food, protect its resources and be
both environmentally safe and profitable. A
sustainable farm relies as much as possible
on beneficial natural processes and
renewable resources drawn from the farm
itself.
Sustainable agriculture addresses
many serious problems afflicting world food
production: high energy costs, groundwater
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contamination, soil erosion, loss of
productivity, depletion of fossil resources,
low farm incomes and risks to human health
and wildlife habitats.
Sustainable agriculture does not
represent a return to pre-industrial
revolution methods; rather it combines
traditional conservation farming techniques
with modern technologies. Sustainable
systems use modern equipment, certified
seed, soil and water conservation practices
and the latest innovations in feeding and
handling livestock. Emphasis is placed on
rotating crops, building up soil, diversifying
crops and livestock, and controlling pests
naturally.
Whenever possible, external
resources - such as commercially purchased
chemicals and fuels - are replaced by
resources found on or near the farm. These
internal resources include: solar or wind
energy, biological pest controls and
biologically fixed nitrogen and other
nutrients released from organic matter or
from soil reserves. In some cases, external
resources may be essential for reaching
sustainability. As a result, such farming
systems can differ considerably from one
another because each adjusts its practices to
meet specific environmental and economic
needs.
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threat ………………………………………………………………………………..
impact ……………………………………………………………………………..
to comprise ………………………………………………………………………..
to call ……………………………………………………………………………..
safe ………………………………………………………………………………..
profitable …………………………………………………………………………..
to rely on …………………………………………………………………………..
to afflict ..…………………………………………………………………………..
return ..……………………………………………………………………………..
to handle ………………………………………………………….………………..

1. After World War II, agricultural farms became ………………. Mechanized and
specialized, as well as ……………. dependent on fossil fuels, borrowed capital and chemical
fertilizers and pesticides.
2. Sustainable agriculture comprises ………………. variants of non-conventional agriculture
that are often called ……………………, …………………., ………………….,
…………………… or ……………………..
3. For a farm to be …………………, it must produce ………………….. amounts of high-
quality food, protect its resources and be ……………… environmentally safe and profitable.
4. ………………… is placed on rotating crops, building up soil, diversifying crops and
………………. and controlling pests naturally.
5. In some cases, …………………. resources may be essential for reaching
…………………….
1) conventional a) hazard, exposure to mischance, loss, etc.
2) alternative b) animals kept or dealt in for use or profit
3) livestock c) to supply with food
4) sustainable d) depending on convention, following
5) risk traditions
6) renewable e) that can be restored to original state, made
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7) to feed new, regenerated
f) one of two of more than two possibilities
g) durable, lasting, going continuously
Într-un sistem de agricultură ecologică se are în vedere dezvoltarea de exploataţii

agricole productive şi durabile, care să protejeze mediul înconjurător. Tehnicile culturale
trebuie să restabilească şi apoi să menţină stabilitatea ecologică a exploataţiei agricole şi a
mediului care o înconjoară. Fertilitatea solului este menţinută şi ameliorată printr-un sistem de
măsuri care favorizează activitatea biologică maximă în sol, precum şi conservarea resurselor
solului. Lupta împotriva buruienilor, bolilor şi a dăunătorilor se realizează prin metode
integrate de control, precum lucrările solului şi lucrările de îngrijire, asolamentul şi rotaţia
culturilor, eliberarea de insecte utile pentru a favoriza echilibrul între prădători şi insectele
dăunătoare, promovarea diversităţii biologice.
Într-un sistem de agricultură ecologică, animalele beneficiază de condiţii de creştere şi
de o încărcătură conformă cu necesităţile lor comportamentale, precum şi de furaje biologice
şi de metode de creştere care reduc nivelul de stres şi care favorizează o bună stare de sănătate
şi previn îmbolnăvirile. Se poate spune că scopul agriculturii ecologice este acela de
maximizare a productivităţii biologice, asigurarea calităţii mediului şi a confortului
comunităţii vegetale, animale şi umane.
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Controlling insects, diseases and weeds without chemicals is also a goal of sustainable
strategies, and the evidence for its feasibility is encouraging. One broad approach to limiting
use of pesticides is commonly called Integrated Pest Management (IPM), which may involve
disease-resistant crop varieties and biological controls (such as natural predators or parasites
that keep pest populations below injurious levels). Farmers can also select tillage methods,
planting times, crop rotations and plant-residue management practices to optimize the
environment for beneficial insects that control pest species or to deprive pests of a habitat. If
pesticides are used as a last resort, they are applied when pests are most vulnerable or when
any beneficial species and natural predators are least likely to be harmed.
In practice, IPM programs have dramatically reduced use of pesticides on crops such
as cotton, sorghum and peanuts; on the other hand, they have been reduced to “pesticide
management” for many crops like corn and soybeans, for which pesticide usage has actually
increased significantly.
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Biological-control techniques are some of the best ways to control pests without
pesticides. They have been used for more than 100 years and have been commercially
successful in controlling pests, especially insects, in more than 250 projects around the world.
REMEMBER!
Agricultural farms have became highly mechanized and specialized, as well as heavily
dependent on fossil fuels, borrowed capital and chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
Sustainable agriculture comprises several variants of non-conventional agriculture that are
often called organic, alternative, regenerative, ecological or low-input. For a farm to be
sustainable, it must produce adequate amounts of high-quality food, protect its resources and
be both environmentally safe and profitable. A sustainable farm relies as much as possible on
beneficial natural processes and renewable resources drawn from the farm itself.
Sustainable systems use modern equipment, certified seed, soil and water conservation
practices and the latest innovations in feeding and handling livestock.
Whenever possible, external resources - such as commercially purchased chemicals and fuels
- are replaced by resources found on or near the farm: solar or wind energy, biological pest
controls and biologically fixed nitrogen and other nutrients released from organic matter or
from soil reserves.
CHECK-UP TEST
The European agriculture industry of the early years of the next century will be very different
from the intensifying and specialising industry which became dominant pattern in the late
1980s. Environmental and social considerations will come to dominate agricultural policy
formulation. Almost all of the production of major commodities will be subject to restriction
from a combination of budgetary cut-backs, international agricultural trade agreements and
the limitations imposed by new environmental and social policies.
What were regarded as the major forces driving agricultural policy formulation in the
late 1980s - the taxpayer cost of funding agricultural policies, the need to improve the “market
efficiency” of the agricultural sector and the desire to eliminate the wastes of over-production,
will be much less significant.
It can be assumed, somewhat paradoxically, that agriculture will have become more
rather than less regulated. The overwhelming trend of thinking on agricultural policy in early
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1990s was that “agriculture policy was too important to be left to agriculturalists”. The
predominance of this attitude will lead inevitably to the increasing input of environmental
principles into agricultural policy-making, in order to prevent farming from further polluting
the soil, the water and the atmosphere, but also to mould agriculture policy so as to ensure
that the countryside and its guardians also increasingly become the providers of
“environmental services”.
The EU markets for farm commodities will become less and less important in
maintaining farmers’ incomes. While a large section of the agriculture industry will still gain
its income from the sale of basic food commodities, this produce will be sold at world prices -
with little subvention from the EU or national funds. In order to ensure adequate incomes,
farmers will still draw direct subsidies from the state (including the EU super-state) to
compensate for the less intensive methods which they will practice.
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Reganold, John P., Robert I. Papendick and James F. Parr, “Sustainable Agriculture” – in
Scientific AmericanJune 1990
United Nations, Commodities and Trade Division, 2001
NOTES
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Contents Page
UNIT 7
Topic: European Agriculture in the Twenty-First Century 80
Objectives 80
Key words 80
Text 81
Exercises 82
Remember! 85
Check-up test 86
Notes 88
UNIT 7
EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
OBJECTIVES
to provide information on the future of European agriculture by using words
pertaining to the specific vocabulary presented in this unit;
Key words: export revenue, national income, exploitation, trading potential, consumer
subsidy, state buying operation, economic reorganisation, rationalisation, commercial entity,
interventionist policy
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Agriculture is vitally important to the
economies of Central and Eastern Europe. It
represents a substantial proportion of the
value of economic activity, it employs large
proportions of the working population and,
in most countries, it provides an important
proportion of export revenues. For several
of the Central and East European countries,
expansion of agricultural exports could
provide the most rapid method of increasing
foreign currency earnings and raising
national income. Most of the countries have
substantial agricultural resources which are
currently massively under-exploited. Many
obstacles remain, however, to the
exploitation of this productive and trading
potential.
The most important short-term
problem is the depression of demand for
agricultural products within the domestic
economies, caused by removal of the
consumer subsidy and state buying
operations of the former communist
regimes. Without the stimulus of expanding
domestic demand, agricultural production
has genetically slumped in most of the
CEECs.
In several of the countries, too, the
process of economic reorganisation has
probably affected the agriculture and food
sector even more than industry.
Rationalisation of the process of transferring
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the ownership of land from the state to
private individuals and putative commercial
entities has proved as difficult as expected
when the communist command economies
collapsed.
The central problem which the
governments of the CEECs now face is the
reconciling of the need to protect and
nurture the agriculture sector into a fully
productive and competitive state, while at
the same time avoiding falling into the trap
of establishing interventionist policies
similar to those of the previous regimes or
even of the type from which the European
Union is trying to extricate itself in the later
1990s.

substantial …………………………………………………………………………..
to employ …………………………………………………………………………..
expansion …………………………………………………………………………..
income ……………………………………………………………………………..
currently …………………………………………………………………………..
productive …………………………………………………………………………..
to undergo …………………………………………………………………………..
further ……………………………………………………………………………..
collapse ……………………………………………………………………………..
to involve …………………………………………………………………………..

1. Agriculture represents a substantial …………… of the …………… of economic activity,
as it …………… large proportions of the …………… population and …………… important
…………… revenues.
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2. For …………… of the Central and East European countries, expansion of ……………
exports could provide the most rapid …………… of increasing foreign …………… earnings
and …………… national income.
3. The most important ……………… problem is the ……………… of demand for
agricultural products …………… the domestic economies, …………… by removal of the
consumer …………… and state buying operations of the former communist regimes.
4. ……………… of the process of …………… the ownership of land from the state to
private individuals and …………… commercial entities has proved as …………… as
expected when the communist economies ……………
5. The …………… problem now is the …………… of the need to protect and ……………
the agriculture sector into a …………… productive and competitive state.
1) proportion a) capable of coming into being or
2) value action; latent
3) revenue b) leadership, especially of one state of
4) currency a confederacy
5) potential c) union, relationship, community
6) hegemony d) income, especially of large amount,
7) alliance from any source
e) worth, valuation, qualities
f) comparative part, share, relation,
ratio
g) circulation of money; money in
current use in a country

Agricultura ecologică capătă o importanţă din ce în ce mai mare, devenind tot mai
importantă în ţările care o practică şi câştigă noi adepţi în ţări unde nu a fost practicată încă.
Piaţa produselor agricole ecologice este în plină expansiune, în special în ţările industrializate.
Probabil că Europa va domina şi în viitor sectorul agriculturii ecologice, deşi sunt
unele ţări asiatice (Japonia) şi americane (SUA) care înregistrează o dezvoltare semnificativă
a agriculturii ecologice. În Europa deja există ţări cu 10% din suprafaţa agricolă exploatată în
sistem ecologic (Austria, Elveţia, Suedia). De asemenea, la nivelul UE, Planul de Acţiune
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pentru Agricultura Organică începe să funcţioneze şi se anticipează că va avea o influenţă
pozitivă asupra dezvoltării agriculturii ecologice în Europa. În ţările care sunt la început în
ceea ce priveşte agricultura ecologică o problemă care trebuie rezolvată în viitor este
popularizarea agriculturii ecologice şi câştigarea încrederii consumatorilor în produsele
agricole ecologice. La aceasta se asociază implementarea unor sisteme legislative, de control
şi certificare a produselor agricole ecologice.
Pe plan internaţional, o problemă ce va continua şi va trebui să fie rezolvată o
constituie armonizarea standardelor agriculturii ecologice.
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Failure to comply with limitations on the application of nitrogen and phosphates to the land,
restrictions on the disposal of livestock effluent and controls on the use of pesticides - all
likely to be embodied in “land management contracts” between farmers and the authorities -
will result in non-payment of environmental subsidies which will largely replace the market-
support subsidies of the past as the main and necessary supplement to farm incomes.
Despite this apparent limitation on the European Union’s agricultural production, new
scientific developments, mainly in the realms of biotechnology, will sustain still high levels of
agricultural production. New plant varieties bred for insect and disease resistance will be
teamed with low-concentration, but highly effective, herbicides to produce still larger crops of
high-quality wheat and other commodities. These crops will be genetically engineered to
produce more exactly the qualities demanded by the millers and other processors of food. At
the same time, a growing number of farmers will be producing very high quality crops of
fruit, vegetables, meats, dairy products and first-stage processed foods (such as sausages,
patés, cheeses, preserves and other quality “on-farm” products) which will be demanded by
an increasingly critical clientele of direct “farm-gate shoppers”.
Thus, there will still be the “two agricultures” which were developing in the 1980s:
the bulk food producers and the organic and near-organic quality producers. However, the
difference between the two periods is that even the majority, bulk-producers, will be growing
a higher-quality product than they would have done twenty years previously - and in a more
environmentally tolerable manner.
REMEMBER!
Agriculture is vitally important to the economies of Central and Eastern Europe, representing
a substantial proportion of the value of economic activity, employing large proportions of the
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working population and, in most countries, providing an important proportion of export
revenues.
The most important short-term problem is the depression of demand for agricultural products
within the domestic economies, caused by removal of the consumer subsidy and state buying
operations of the former communist regimes.
The central problem which the governments of the CEECs now face is the reconciling of the
need to protect and nurture the agriculture sector into a fully productive and competitive state,
while at the same time avoiding falling into the trap of establishing interventionist policies
similar to those of the previous regimes or even of the type from which the European Union is
trying to extricate itself in the later 1990s.
CHECK-UP TEST
Globalization had been the defining trend in the closing decade of the 20th century. The dawn
of new millennium heralds a new era of interaction among nations, economies and people.
Globalization is an ongoing process of global integration that encompasses: (i) economic
integration through trade, investment and capital flows; (ii) political interaction; (iii)
information and information technology; and (iv) culture.
Economic globalization impacts the environment and sustainable development in a
variety of ways and through a multitude of channels. Globalization contributes to economic
growth and thereby affects the environment in many of the same ways that economic growth
does: advresely in some stages of development, favourably at others. Globalization
accelerates structural change, thereby altering the industrial structure of countries and hence
resource use and pollution levels. Globalization diffuses capital and technology: depending on
their environmental characteristics relative to existing capital and technology, the
environment may improve or deteriorate. Globalization transmits and magnifies market
failures and policy distortions that may spread and exacerbate environmental damage; it may
also generate pressures for reform, as policies heretofore thought of as purely domestic attract
international interest. While it improves the prospects for economic growth worldwide and
increases overall global output, globalization could conceivably reduce economic prospects in
individual countries, sectros and industries; such marginalization of economies and people
may result in poverty-induced resource depletion and environmental degradation.
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Globalization diffuses world product standards and, to the extent that environmental
standards are higher in the dominant consumer markets, it may create a trend toward rising
standards globally. On the other hand, concerns over the possible loss of competitiveness due
to ’unfair practices’ or lax standard may lead to a ’race to the bottom’. Economic
globalization changes the government-market interface: it constrains governments and
enhances the role of the market in economic, social and environmental outcomes. On the
other hand, it creates new imperatives for states to co-operate both in managing the global
commons and in coordinating environmental policies.
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Gardner, Brian, European Agriculture. Policies, Production and Trade, London and New
York: Routledge, 1995 – Chapter 10: “European Agriculture in the Twenty-First Century”
Globalization and Liberalization. Development in the Face of Two Powerful Currents,
New York & Geneva: United Nations, 1996
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EVALUATION TEST
Read the following text carefully and write a 500-word essay on the topic, bringing
arguments according to your personal experience:
Among the Central and Eastern European countries, Romania shows a series of favouring
features which, if put to good use, could support sustainable development on a long term.
Among these, the following are relevant:
a) natural capital, despite aspects of significant destruction and over-exploitation
which is due to the lack of conservation and protection in the past;
b) human capital, seen from a quantitative and qualitative point of view, Romania
being the second largest country in Central and South-eastern Europe in terms of population
with a relatively larger proportion of young people, a more balanced structure on age groups;
cheaper labour force; a satisfactory level of training, although this comparative advantage is
beginning to disappear, due to a delay in harmonisation with European standards of
qualification;
c) political stability, by comparison with other countries in the area, where acute and
latent conflicts are currently developing.
For Romania, the transition towards a market economy has proven more complex and
longer than expected. Romania had a difficult start compared to other countries in the region,
caused partly by the critical economic situation perpetuated from the past and partly by the
planning, coherence and implementation pace of the reform. In this situation, the existing
imbalance (between supply and demand, structural, territorial, etc.) became more acute; some
of the mechanisms failed; the new financial and economic institutions did not reach the
degree of maturity necessary for the normal functioning of a market economy, for the creation
of the conditions needed for a sustainable economic development. Neither the signals, nor the
aid received from abroad did rise meet the country’s needs; in other cases, they have only
partially been used.
During the last ten years, the evolution of the economy has been marked by
distortions, with a strong note of non-sustainability. The economic development has been
marked by a prolonged crisis, by a growing vulnerability, both facts that widen the gap
between Romania and the developed countries. The structural crisis and the inherited
unbalances, the delay of the economic and institutional reform, the incoherence and
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incongruities and gaps between the components of the economic reform, between the nominal
and real economy, have caused a prolonged decline in the country. Some strong tensions and
pressures have been amplified and accentuated:
a) unbalance between production and consumption, the latter being constantly higher,
between factors of production and economic efficiency and performance. The delay in the
reform of the real economy, in the restructuring of companies causing losses, in solving the
financial blocking, of budget debts, and of social pressures, combined with insufficient
encouragement for the business environment, is reflected in the evolution of macroeconomics.
b) uncontrolled and soaring inflation, exchange, and unemployment rates with
paralysing effects on the economy, discourage savings and investment, and the start of
economic reform.
c) tensions in the national economic structure. The structural improvement of the
economic sectors in line with the requirements of environmental protection is a vital condition
for the achinevement of sustainable development. The development of an eco-efficient
national insutry will encourage the creation of a competitive domestic market for ecological
goods and services, and will simultaneously fiind profitable opportunities on external
markets.
d) In the presence of the following factors: decrease of real GDP, inefficient foreign
trade structure, insufficient financial resources, difficult access to foreign capital markets,
constant discrepancy between the higher consumption as compared to production, the
economic development encounters major structural deficits.
e) The rigidity of the labour market, with tension between demand and supply.
f) Savings and investing are discouraged. During the transition period, the economic
capacity of ensuring a capital accumulation rate high enough to support the restructuring and
reforms along the lines of efficiency and competitiveness was extremely low and varied
considerably.
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ROMANIA. National Sustainable Development Strategy. „Doing more with less”,
Government of Romania, Department for Central Public Administration Reform, Bucharest:
CNI Coresi, 1999 – Chapter 2.3: „Economic Growth”
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SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS
Agriculture and Humankind
Agriculture is the economic domain which produces foods for the population and raw
materials for several industries. In turn, agriculture is the beneficiary of some finite products
resulted from several industries.
Even from the beginning of life, man has been preoccupied to ensure biological
existeance, i.e. food necesities. First as a hunter and harvester, man subsequently discovered
the possibility to cultivate plants and breed animals, activities that provided food. Great
ancient civilizations had cereals as food support: Asian civilizations – rice, Mediteranean
civilizations – wheat, American civilizations (Aztec and Inca) – maize.
In time, agriculture has become a basic branch of all countries’s national economies.
Aut of the 141 countries included in the ONU database, agriculture produces over 20 % from
the GDP (gross domestic product) in 61 countries, a third of the GDP in 52 countires, and
agriculture plays the leading role in forming the GDP in 18 countries.
Food products have a commercial importance, both in domestic and foreign
commerce. Moreover, the reserves of agricultural products have a strategic importance in case
of drought, calamities or to influence food commerce nationally or internationally. There is a
„food influence” of the countries that have such food reserves and, unfortunately, even a
„food weapon” used by the rich against the poor and the famished.
In order to ensure food for the world population, it is necessary to increase agricultural
production, which may be accomplished either extensively, i.e. by cultivating new areas of
land (which is very expensive and difficult) and, especially intensively, i.e. by increasing
production per surface unit or animal number. For this purpose, a special importance has
agricultural research, consulting services, and agricultural education at various levels
(undergraduate, graduate, postgraduate, life-long, distance, etc.).
Research should create new species/hybrids of plant crops and animal breeds with an
increased production capacity in order to be able to meet the demands of growth and
development where conditions are unfavourable (drought, cold, poor soil, etc.). At the same
time, research should devise performant technologies to cultivate plants and raise animals that
can adapt themselves easilty to different environmental and economic conditions. Consulting
should advertise for these accomplishments of agricultural research, and to help and sustain
97
farmers to solve problems and achieve goals. Education should teach farmers how to cultivate
plants and breed animals so as productions to become larger, better in quality, economically
efficient without damaging the environment.
The need to improve the world population’s food situation resulted in the
establishment of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) within the United Nations
Organization (UNO) in 1945 which in time has proved to be one of the most specialized UNO
institutions.
Agricultural Systems – Concept and Features
An agricultural system is made of plants and animals, cars, equipment and devices,
environmental elements (soil, weather, water), completed with the human approach for the
purpose of obtaining agricultural products.
Agricultural systems are a special type of economic systems: they are subsystems of
other economic systems, such as food producing systems, agro-industrial systems, national or
international economy.
Although agricultural systems include living organisms (plants and animals), they are
different from biological systems. The latter do not meet the common feature of agricultural
systems s, i.e. that of producing agricultural products. They aim at growing, developing and
increasing both plant and animal organisms (perpetuation of the species), but it do not meet
the human demands of agricultural products. Biological systems become agricultural by
means of human activity.
Biological systems are a subsystem of agricultural systems, following the human
approach through the agricultural technologies that modify the vital processes of plants and
animals according to human goals.
Agricultural systems have several specific features:
- Agricultural systems are anthropic systems: They are influenced by human
approach that coordinates and directs agricultural systems through a culture
technology to meet humans’ demands.
- Agricultural systems are aimed at producing agricultural products: By means of
agricultural systems, we obtain food and raw materials for different industries (for
example, plant and animal fibers for the textile industry).
- Within agricultural systems, the living organisms play a special role, namely the
plants and animals: The process of agricultural output is similar to the vital
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processes of plants and animals but, unlike the human-machine system
characteristic of industrial systems, agricultural systems are of the type human-
machine-soil-plant-animal.
- Agricultural systems have a large number of variable factors: Agricultural
systems are influenced by the unforeseeable fluctuations in the economic
environment, the economic and political events, and the environmental factors
more or less controlled, some of which are uncontrolled. As regards agricultural
systems, the most important source of variable effects refers to the climate
conditions and certain factors related to living plant or animal organisms (diseases,
damaging factors, different reaction of plants and animals to the same
environmental factors, etc.).
- Within agricultural systems, time factor is given a special importance: The life
rhythm of plant and animal organisms within the agricultural systems develops
according to their biological necessities. The production cycle is determined by the
special biological features of each culture plant or animal species.
- Biologically speaking, agricultural systems are simplified systems: Within
agricultural systems, the number of plant and/or animal species is small, as the
grower tries to limit the system setup only to the agriculturally interesting species.
Conventional Agricultural Systems
1. Extensive agricultural systems

Extensive agricultural systems include traditional agricultural systems, orchards and
gardens inside it or near rural environments, grazing fields and hayfields (most of which are
semi-natural).
Within this type of agricultural systems, the exit/enter energetic relation is large: a
calorie of cultural energy (biological) produces more than 10 calories as useful crop.
Though there is a large yield of invested energy, the useful crop is small because of
the use of low productive species, less performing agricultural technologies, the incapacity to
fight diseases and damaging factors, etc.
The cultivated fields and the grazing fields on one hand, and the domestic animals
producing organic fertilizers and meat, milk, eggs, raw materials (wool, leather, bones) for
humans on the other hand, are ecologically interdependent. These systems are very stable and
diverse.
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Mineral fertilizers and pesticides (herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides) are not
practically used or are used in very small quantities.
2. Intensive agricultural systems

This category includes agricultural systems intensively practising mechanization and
chemical transformation (fertilization with chemical fertilizers and the chemical control of
weeds, diseases and damaging factors).
Intensive agricultural systems are recommended for producing food as long as the
resources of technological energy are accessible and cheap, and for ensuring environmental
protection. The expansion of these agricultural systems on geographic areas brings about
ecological misbalances and the degradation of the biotype.
Intensive agricultural systems are characterized by the focus and specialization of
agricultural production, which triggers reduced biodiversity. These agricultural systems are
based upon short rotation (2-3 years), and high doses of chemical, herbicide, fungicide and
insecticide fertilizers. Generally, the animal breeding sector is not a component of the
agricultural exploitation; therefore, perennial herbs are not included within the cycles.
3. Industrial agricultural systems (industrialized)

Industrial agricultural systems are specialized in obtaining products from a species
grown under fully controlled conditions (industrial units for animal breeding, greenhouses
with a flow of vegetable harvesting throughout the entire year).
These eco-agricultural systems are very unstable and integrally dependent upon the
present and future energy resources of humankind.
Except for the greenhouses, these agricultural systems are very similar with the
heterotrophic natural ecosystems (ecosystems lacking primary producers, such as ground
water) which are dependent upon the exchanges with other ecosystems.
Alternative Agricultural Systems
Alternative agricultural systems are systems of agricultural production that employ a

wide range of different techniques and methods, compared with conventional agriculture.
Therefore, alternative agriculture is based upon the following elements:
- the cultivation and breeding of untraditional plant and animal species;
- services, agro-tourism, processing of agricultural raw materials and other activities based
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upon the resources of agricultural exploitation and natural resources;
- unconventional production systems, such as ecological (biological or organic) agriculture
- direct marketing or other marketing entrepreneurial strategies.
Alternative agriculture employs agricultural techniques for environmental protection
purposes and aims at diversifying agricultural exploitations and the use of local resources.
1. Sustainable agricultural systems

Sustainable agriculture can be defined by permanence, which presupposes techniques
to maintain soil fertility, the use of regenerative resources, environmental protection and
stimulation of biological activity within the soil and all the cycles of food processing.
Sustainability is based upon the principle of meeting the demands of the present
without compromising the possibility of future generations to meet their own requirements. A
system is considered sustainable if all the individual means of existence are provided without
compromising the basic natural resources in the future.
The Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 defined sustainable agriculture as
being:
- ecologically compatible – to protect the environment;
- economically viable – to produce enough for providing the financial autonomy of the
agricultural producers;
- socially fair – to be an agriculture for all the people;
- human – to respect human dignity;
- adjustable – to adjust to the market conditions, demographic conditions, agricultural
policies, etc.
Subsequently, durable agriculture integrates three large objectives:
1. environmental protection;
2. economic efficiency;
3. economic and social equity.
The administration of natural and human resources is a prerequisite of sustainable
agriculture. The administration of human resources includes the present and future
responsibilities concerning the cultivators’ labour and life conditions, the rural community’s
requirements, the consumers’ health and safety.
Features of the sustainable agricultural systems:
- biodiversity – increased diversity of plant crops, perennial crops, integration of the plant
into the animal breeding sector;
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- fertilization based on residual organic materials resulted from the animal breeding sector,
combined with chemical fertilizers – doses of fertilizers settled according to the amount of
nutrients in the soil;
- the large-scale use of the prophylactic and biological means to control the weeds, diseases
and damaging factors;
- rational grazing and foddering of the animals according to the requirements of each
species and breed;
- safe depositing and manipulating of the animal breeding resources in order to decrease
pollution;
- provision of technological works at the best moment.
2. Ecological (biological or organic) agricultural systems

Despite some differences between ecological, biological and organic agricultural
systems, it is generally agreed that the terms “ecological”, “biological” and “organic” refers
the same thing, which was legislatively regulated in the European Union. The phrase
“ecological agriculture” is used in Germany, Spain, Denmark, Romania; the phrase
“biological agriculture” is used in France, Italy, Portugal, Holland; the phrase “organic
agriculture” is used in the UK and the US.
Ecological agriculture is a production modality characterized by the use of plant crop
and animal breeding techniques complying with natural equilibrium by excluding the use of
the pesticides and chemical synthesis fertilizers, as well as limiting the use of inputs.
Legislatively, ecological agriculture is a production method that prohibits the use of
chemical synthesis products.
According to FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), biological agriculture is “a
system of holistic administration of the production, which favors the health of the agro-
ecosystem, biodiversity, biological cycles and the biological activity of the soil”.
Organic agriculture consists in the exclusive use of the organic fertilizers for plant
fertilization purposes.
3. Precision agricultural systems

Precision agriculture is an agricultural system based upon a precise use of the inputs,
i.e. when it is supposed to, when it must and when it should. This system of agricultural
production is based upon a good knowledge of soil characteristics and the crop in order to
enable an optimization of the inputs.
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Precision agriculture is based upon the use of a performing technology based on the
use of personal computers, telecommunications, GPS systems (Global Positioning Systems),
GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and sensors positioned in the field in order to read
production variables.
4. Low-input agricultural systems

Low-input agricultural systems are based upon the minimization of the systems’
external inputs, especially chemical fertilizers and pesticides, in order to decrease the
production costs, avoid the pollution of soil, ground waters and ground-water layer, reduce
the presence pesticide residues in the agricultural products, lower the risks faced by the
farmer, and increase the short and long-term profitability of the agricultural exploitation.
Consequently, these agricultural systems presuppose the minimization of the external
inputs (e.g. organic fertilizers, system management etc.).
5. Natural agricultural systems

There are different types of natural agricultural systems, namely:
- Natural Farming – an agricultural system resulted from the experience and philosophy of
the Japanese farmer Masanobu Fukuoka. This agricultural system excludes soil tillage,
fertilizers and weed-control works by a very precise selection of the seeding moment and
a careful combination of the plants (polyculture).
- Nature Farming – an agricultural system developed by the Japanese philosopher Mokicho
Okada. This agricultural system is based upon the universal forces of life: fire, water and
earth (soil). The soil accumulates the forces that support life and make the plants grow.
Consequently, this system gives special importance to the soil and the related works,
particularly the use of green fertilizers.
- Kyusei Nature Farming – an agricultural system developed by Teruo Higa in Japan. This
agricultural system is based upon the use of the agricultural techniques including the
inoculation of beneficial microorganisms in order to increase the microbiological diversity
of the soil. In turn, the latter provides the growth and health of the plants, and the
accomplishment of production.
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Ecological Agriculture – Concept and Principles
The main purpose of ecological agriculture is to obtain healthy and safe agricultural
products for consumers, taking into account environmental protection.
Ecological agriculture prevents impurity and destruction of the surrounding
environment with its chemical arsenal of contemporary agriculture, plus the unreasonable,
random and sometimes abusive, application of some technological works (rotation,
fertilization, soil tillage).
From the viewpoint of using chemical synthetic products, ecological agriculture is an
extensive system; nevertheless, since an agricultural system presupposes a biological
component apart from the technical component, from this point of view, ecological
agriculture is an intensive system.
Ecological (biological) production differs from conventional production in that that it
avoids the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Ecological agriculture employs
biological and mechanical growing methods, and avoids chemical synthetic products as much
as possible in order to fulfill all the specific functions of agricultural systems.
The fundamental rule of ecological agriculture is that natural contributions are allowed
while synthetic ones are forbidden. An ecological agriculture system takes into account the
development of sustainable and productive agricultural exploitations in order to protect the
surrounding environment. Crop techniques are aimed to restore and maintain the ecologic
stability of the agricultural exploitations and the surrounding environment. Soil fertility of the
soil is maintained and enhanced by a system of measures which favours the maximum
biologic activity in the soil, as well as the preservation of the soil resources. Weeds, disease
and pest control is accomplished by integrated control methods, as well as soil tillage, and the
release of useful insects that restore the balance between predators and damaging insects.
An ecological agriculture system provides animals with breeding conditions in
accordance with their behavior necessities, i.e. biological fodder and stress-reducing breeding
methods, which favours a better health status and prevents diseases.
Thus, the purpose of ecological agriculture is to maximize biological productivity, to
ensure the quality of the environment and the welfare of vegetation, animals and humans.
Principles of ecological agriculture:
- Protection of the surrounding environment: Ecological agriculture intends to keep the
environment unaltered by using less soluble organic and mineral fertilizers and avoiding
the use of products that may have damaging effects. Pesticide use is forbidden, and only
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products which do dot damage plants are allowed, based on simple mineral salts (Cu, S,
etc) or plant extracts.
- Maintenance and enhancement of soil fertility: The soil is the focus of ecological
agriculture, as it is considered a complex living environment interacting with plants and
animals. By specific techniques, ecological agriculture takes into account the
intensification of the micro-biological activity in the soil, for maintaining and increasing
its fertility through such practices as: crop rotation, green fertilizers, hidden crops,
recycling plant and animal residues, grazing by rotation, and soil tillage. A healthy soil is
an integral part of the stable agro-ecosystem.
- Respect for consumers’ health: Ecological agriculture is aimed at obtaining quality
agricultural products, with a balanced content in the nutrients (proteins, lipids, and
carbohydrates), organic acids, vitamins and mineral salts, and no residues.
- Maintaining biodiversity of the agricultural ecosystem: Biodiversity is essential for the
stability and sustainability of the agricultural ecosystem (agro-ecosystem). Diversity is
accomplished by the correct selection of the plant and animal assortment, types, hybrids
and breed, and the rotation and biological protection of plants.
- Maintaining the integrity of ecological agricultural products: Ecological agricultural
products, with the ingredients, additives and auxiliaries they contain, are produced,
transformed, manufactured and manipulated in accordance with the principles of
production and ecological transformation. Genetically modified organisms (GMO) and
their products are incompatible with the principles of ecological agriculture; therefore,
their use in manufacture, transformation and fabrication of ecological food is forbidden.
- Plant cultivation and animal breeding in harmony with natural laws: Ecological
agriculture is based on plant cultivation and animal breeding made in harmony with
natural laws, using, protecting and respecting nature.
- Optimal not maximum production: Ecological agricultural systems take into account
obtaining optimal productions by protect the environment, agricultural products and
preserving the non-regenerating resources. Maximum productions are mostly obtained by
an abusive use of resources and destruction of the surrounding environment.
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History of Ecological Agriculture
Ecological agriculture came into existence as such at the beginning of the 20th century,
although the principles of ecological agriculture were formulated after the Second World War
by the consumers and doctors preoccupied by the effect of food on human health.
The reasons for the interest in ecological agriculture in the ‘70 were related to the
negative experience determined by the use of chemical synthesis products resulting in health
problems, and the dependence on raw materials and energy to ever growing prices.
An awareness of responsibility for the surrounding environment developed in the ‘80s
and the European western countries recorded an overproduction of food, saturation and
liberalization of markets in the ‘90s, which determined the farmers and consumers’
orientation towards ecological agriculture.
Over the past decades producers’ organizations were established, aiming to promote
ecological agriculture. Thus, the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movement
(IFOAM) was established in 1972.; it developed continuously so that in 1993 it grouped about
400 associations in 60 countries.
The term of ecological agriculture appeared for the first time in a 1991 European
regulation: The Regulation of the Council CEE no. 2092/91 (January 1991) on crop
production. For animal production, the European ministers of agriculture adopted the CE
Regulation no. 1804/99 which completes the former regulation.
Here are some important milestones in the history of European ecological agriculture:
- 1924: beginning of ecological agriculture in Germany, with the launch of Rudolf Steiner’s
biodynamic type of agriculture;
- 1930-1940: Doctor Hans Mueller developed the system of organic-biological agriculture
in Switzerland, as the widest-spread system of ecological agriculture in the German
countries (represented by “Bioland” in Germany and “BioSuisse” in Switzerland);
- 1940: Sir Albert Howard published “An Agricultural Testament” setting the basis of
organic agriculture in the UK;
- 1943: Lady Eve Balfour published “The Living Soil” contributing to the development of
organic agriculture in the UK;
- 1946: The Soil Association was established in the UK;
- 1967: The Soil Association of the UK published the first organic standards;
- 1972: The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) was
established in Versaille, France;
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- 1973: The Research Institute for Organic Agriculture was established in Switzerland - at
present, it is the largest research institute for ecological agriculture in the world;
- 1975: The Foundation Ecology & Agriculture was established in Germany;
- 1980s: most associations and organizations for ecological agriculture were established and
the basic IFOAM standards were published;
- 1985: France adopted the legislation related to ecological agriculture;
- 1990: The IFOAM European Union Regional Group was established;
- 1991: The EU Regulation No. 2092/91 on ecological agriculture was issued, which
became law in 1993;
- 1992: The EU Regulation No. 2078/92 was issued, stipulating financial support measures
for ecological agriculture in the UE and setting the basis of the IFOAM accreditation
programme;
- 1995: The First Action Plan for ecological agriculture was launched in Denmark;
- 1999: The Regulation No. 1257/1999 on Rural Development was issued, stipulating
measures of financial support for ecological agriculture in the UE; the EC Regulation No.
1804/19 July 1999 on the manufacture of ecological agricultural products of animal origin
and the Codex Alimmentarius guidelines were adopted;
- 2000: The Agenda 2000 for the UE was launched in Copenhagen, stipulating financial
support for ecological agriculture;
- 2001: First steps were taken for An European Action Plan of ecological agriculture.
Ecological Agriculture in the World – Present and Future
Ecological agriculture is acquiring an increased importance worldwide, as seen from

the expansion of the cultivated areas in an ecological system, as well as the increase in the
number of users and ecological agricultural products. Nowadays, ecological agriculture is
practised in about 100 countries with a total area of about 22.8 million ha.
As continents, Australia and Oceania have the largest ecological agricultural area
(10.5 million ha), followed by Asia (0.6 million ha) and Europe (0.5 million ha). The
countries with the largest ecological agricultural area are: Australia (10.5 million ha),
Argentina (3.2 million ha) and Italy (1.2 million ha).
The highest number of ecological farms can be found in Europe, where the first
ecological farms were established in Germany in 1924. Their number has continuously
increased along with the rising of ecological problems caused by the inadequate and excessive
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use of the synthesis chemical products in agriculture. At the same time, farmers became aware
that they were the victims of intensive-chemical production techniques. The increase in the
importance of ecological agriculture was reinforced by the consumers’ high demand of
ecological products.
The ecological agricultural area has continuously increased in the EU after 1990.
Thus, from 0.7 million ha in 1993, the ecological agricultural area increased to 3.3 million ha
in 1999. The increase of the ecological agricultural area was different from one country to the
other within the EU, in some countries being spectacular and less important in others. Thus,
between 1990 and 1997, the ecological agricultural area increased 30 times in Spain, Italy and
Finland, while in France the increase was only 2.6 times.
In 1998, in the EU, the ecological agricultural area covered 2.7 million ha, out of
which:
- 1.4 million ha lawns and pastures (51.9%);
- 0.57 million ha arable lands (21.1%);
- 0.33 million ha horticultural crops (12.2 %);
- 0.40 million ha other crops (14.8%).
The arable area was distributed as follows:
- 83% cereals;
- 7% leguminous plants;
- 7% oleaginous plants;
- 2% root crops;
- 1% other crops.
In 1998, in the EU, there were 280 thousand milk cows grown in an ecological system,
i.e. 1.3% of the total milk cows, resulting in an ecological milk production of 1.1 million tons.
Also in 1998, there were 230.000 ecologically grown swine, i.e. 0.2% of the total. There were
0.4 million ecologically grown sheep and goat, i.e. 0.4% of the total, and over 7 million
poultry.
In 2003, the European countries with the largest ecological area were Italy (1.2 million
ha), the UK (0.68 million ha) and Germany (0.63 million ha). The ecological agricultural area
registered the highest percent from the total agricultural area in Liechtenstein (17%), Austria
(11.3%) and Switzerland (9.7%).
In 2003, the largest number of ecological farms was registered in Italy (56.4 thousand
ha), Turkey (18.4 thousand ha) and Austria (18.3 thousand ha), and the highest percent of
ecological farms from the total number of farms was registered in Liechtenstein (28%),
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Switzerland (10.2%) and Austria (9.3%).
In 2001, Romania had about 1,200 ecological agricultural producers cultivating an
area of 18.7 thousand ha, which represents 0.2% of the total agricultural area.
At present, ecological agriculture is acquiring greater importance, becoming essential
in the countries that enforce it and gaining new followers in countries where it has not been
practised yet.
The decrease in the public aids for agricultural production factors offers the
opportunity to turn the low-input agricultural exploitations into ecological farms, which gives
stability to the agricultural systems.
The consumers’ high demands of ecological agricultural products, as well as the
society’s demands for sustainable agricultural development, provide new markets for the
ecological agricultural products, as well as wide possibilities for the development of
ecological agriculture.
The market for the ecological agricultural products is expanding, especially in the
industrialized countries.
In the future, Europe will probably dominate ecological agriculture, although some
countries in Asia (Japan) and America (USA) register a significant development. In Europe,
there are countries already covering 10% of the agricultural area exploited in this agricultural
system (Austria, Switzerland and Sweden). In addition, in the EU, the Action Plan for
Organic Agriculture has started to function, with a predictable positive influence upon the
development of ecological agriculture on the continent.
In the countries that have started to implement ecological agriculture, the main
problem is to render it more popular and to win the consumers’ trust in the ecological
agricultural products. This is emphasized by the implementation of legislative systems for the
control and certification of the ecological agricultural products.
Internationally, an important problem to be dealt with is the harmonization of
ecological agriculture standards. In order to develop ecological agriculture, farmers must be
provided with specific systems of agricultural consulting, as well as adequate policy.
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Agriculture and Biosphere
Agricultural systems are anthropic systems, i.e. ecosystems within which humans
intervene. These systems are based on physiological processes of plant and animal growth and
development which are driven and conducted according to the demands of humans
intervening within the ecosystem by means of technology.
In order to fulfill the ever growing demands and exigencies of the human society
regarding agricultural products, along the history man selected, adapted and even modified
the plants and animals. Thus, new forms of plants (local populations, speciess and hybrids)
and animals (speciess and hybrids) have been created within the same species through
specific processes belonging to amelioration and genetics. Moreover, even new species have
been created, as triticale (Triticosecale), obtained by crossing wheat (Triticum aestivum) and
rye (Secale cereale).
All these have been obtained in time, which presupposes ever greater dependence on
humans as the driving factor within the ecosystem. Thus, plants that are valuable for the
farmer have become dependent on the nutrients which man introduces in the ecosystem by
means of fertilizers, and have become less competitive in their fight against the weeds. Their
breeding provided them with resistance against certain deseases and pests but, at the same
time, they have lost their capacity to fight new generations of pathogenic agents occurring
within the ecosystem. They have also lost their capability to use the limited water resources of
the soil, and have become dependent on the water which the farmer introduces in the
ecosystem by irrigations. As a result, the grown plants are no longer in competition with other
plants for environmental factors (water, nutrients, light) as they have adapted themselves to
the situation in which they receive everything with minimum biological effort.
Seeking to provide the best growing conditions for the cultivated plants, man has
affected wildlife. Deforestation and drainage have led to the disapearance of certain plant and
animal species while the remaining ones have decreased in number, as they can no longer find
favourable conditions for their development and growth.
Through technology, farmers intend to cotrol weeds, pathogenic agents and pests, but
they cannot succeed for all the species present within the ecosystem. Some of the weeds resist
to human action upon the agricultural ecosystem, and some are not even affected (for
example, Arabian millet – Sorghum halepense, which is not affected by most of herbicides
applied to maize). This has led to the increase in some species of weeds, pathogenic agents
and pests that are specific to each particular culture.
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On the other hand, over the past decades there has been an increasing use of some
chemical products (pesticides) to fight against weeds, diseasses and pests. Not only that these
products are not selective or have a limited selectivity but they also destroy the species of
plants, insects, micro-organisms that are useful for the agricultural ecosystem (agro-
ecosystem). Thus, some discrepancies have been created in the food chain, which has led to
the diminution in the number and even disappearance of numerous bird and mammal species.
The fertilizers and pesticides used in agriculture have affected the ground waters as well,
damaging fish species and other water-living organisms.
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USEFUL LISTS
PLANTS
GRAINS, TECHNICAL PLANTS AND LEGUMES
asparagus beans = fasoliţă groundnuts, peanuts = arahide

barley = orz hemp = cânepă
broad horse, field beans = bob lentil = linte
buckwheat = hrişcă oats = ovăz
castor-oil plant = ricin rice = orez
chickpea, gram = năut rye = secară
clover = trifoi soybeans = soia
common/kidney beans = fasole sunflower = floarea-soarelui
BE common millet / AE proso millet = mei triticosecale = triticale
cotton = bumbac two-row barley = orzoaică
(garden) peas = mazăre vetch and oats = borceag
(grain) sorghum = sorg wheat = grâu
BE maize / AE corn = porumb white lupin, wolf beans = lupin
flax = in
VEGETABLES
artichoke = anghinare celery = ţelină

asparagus = sparanghel chick pea = năut
BE aubergine/AE egg-plant = vânătă chicory = cicoare
beans = fasole chilli = ardei iute american
beetroot = sfeclă chive = arpagic
broccoli = broccoli cucumber = castravete
Brussels sprout = varză de Bruxelles dill = mărar
cabbage(green/red) = varză endive = andivă
(albă/roşie) French beans = fasole verde
carrot = morcov garlic = usturoi
cauliflower = conopidă gherkin = castravecior
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BE kail/AE kale = varză creaţă pepper (sweet/green/hot) = ardei
leek = praz (gras/iute)
lettuce = lăptucă potato = cartof
lovage = leuştean pumpkin = bostan, dovleac
BE marrow/AE squash = dovlecel radish = ridiche de lună
mushroom = ciupercă horse-radish = hrean
nettle = urzică white radish = ridiche neagră
okra (pod) = bamă spinach = spanac
onion = ceapă tomato = roşie
spring onion = ceapă verde turnip = nap
parsley = pătrunjel patience-dock = ştevie
parsnip = păstârnac orrache = lobodă
peas = mazăre
FRUIT
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apple = măr
almond = migdală
apricot = caisă
avocado (pear) = avocado
banana = banană
bilberry = afină
blackberry = mură
(black) currant = coacază
currant = stafidă neagră
coconut = nucă de cocos
cherry (sweet) = cireaşă
wild cherry = cireaşă amară
sour cherry / morello (cherry) = vişină
date = curmală
fig = smochină
grapefruit = gref
grape = strugure
gooseberry = agrişă
hazel = alună turcească
kiwi = kiwi
lemon = lămâie
lime = lămâie verde, limetă
melon = pepene galben
nut = nucă
orange = portocală
pear = pară
plum = prună
peach = piersică
peanut = arahidă
pineapple, ananas = ananas
pomegranate = rodie
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quince = gutuie ANIMALS
raisin = stafidă
raspberry = zmeură Pets, farmyard and wild animals
strawberry = căpşună cattle = taurine
sweet chestnut, maroon = castană sheep = ovine
comestibilă pigs = suine
tangerine = mandarină equine = cabaline
walnut = nucă goats = caprine
water melon = pepene verde guffalo = bubaline
wild strawberry = fragă
MASCULINE FEMININE COMMON
boar, hog Sow pig, swine
buck, stag doe deer
bull cow ox
cock, rooster hen fowl
dog, hound bitch dog
drake duck duck
fox vixen fox
gander goose goose
stallion mare horse
ram ewe sheep
buck-rabbit doe-rabbit rabbit
bull/male elephant cow/female elephant elephant
Tomcat Tabbycat cat
cock pheasant hen pheasant pheasant
cock sparrow hen sparrow sparrow
peacock peahen peafowl
turkey cock turkey hen turkey
dog wolf bitch wolf wolf
he-bear she-bear bear
he-goat she-goat goat
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Specific names for some animals’ young
dog puppy
sheep lamb
cow calf
pig piglet
horse foal
butterfly caterpillas
cat kitten
goat kid
hen chick
lion cub
insect larva
THE MAIN IRREGULAR VERBS

INFINITIVE PAST SIMPLE PAST PARTICIPLE MEANING
to be was, were been a fi, a exista
to bear bore born(e) a purta
to beat beat beat a bate
to become became become a devein
to begin began begun a începe
to bind bound bound a lega
to bite bit bitten a muşca
to bleed bled bled a sîngera
to bless blessed, blest blessed, blest a binecuvînta
to blow blew blown a sulfa
to break broke broken a (se) rupe, a (se) sparge
to breed bred bred a creşte
to bring brought brought a adduce
to build built built a clădi, a construi
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to burn burned, burnt burned, burnt a arde
to burst burst burst a izbucni
to buy bought bought a cumpăra
to cast cast cast a arunca
to catch caught caught a prinde
to choose chose chosen a alege
to come came come a veni
to cost cost cost a costa
to creep crept crept a se tîrî
to cut cut cut a (se) tăia
to deal dealt dealt a avea de-a face cu
to dig dug dug a săpa
to do did done a face, a săvîrşi
to draw drew drawn a trage, a desena
to dream dreamed, dreamt dreamed, dreamt a visa
to drink drank drunk a bea
to drive drove driven a conduce (maşina)
to dwell dwelt dwelt a locui
to eat ate eaten a mînca
to fall fell fallen a cădea, a scădea
to feed fed fed a se hrăni
to feel felt felt a se simţi
to fight fought fought a lupta
to find found found a descoperi, a găsi
to fly flew flown a zbura
to forbid forbade forbidden a interzice
to forecast forecast forecast a prevedea, a prezice
to forget forgot forgotten a uita
to freeze froze frozen a îngheţa
117
to get got got (Amer. gotten) a obţine; a deveni
to give gave given a acorda, a da
to go went gone a merge, a se duce
to grind ground ground a măcina
to grow grew grown a creşte, a se dezvolta
to hang hanged, hung hanged, hung a atîrna, a spînzura
to have had had a avea, a poseda
to hear heard heard a auzi
to hide hid hid, hidden a (se) ascunde
to hit hit hit a (se) ascunde
to hold held held a ţine, a susţine
to hurt hurt hurt a (se) răni
to keep kept kept a ţine, a păstra
to kneel knelt knelt a îngenunchea
to know knew known a şti, a cunoaşte
to lead led led a conduce
to lean leaned, leant leaned, leant a se apleca
to learn learned, learnt learned, learnt a învăţa
to leave left left a pleca, a părăsi
to lend lent lent a împrumuta, a da cu
împrumut
to let let let a lăsa, a permite
to lie lay lain a sta culcat, a zăcea
to light lighted, lit lighted, lit a aprinde, a lumina
to lose lost lost a pierde
to make made made a face, a făuri
to mean meant meant a vrea să spună
to meet met met a (se) întîlni, a face
cunoştinţă
118
to mistake mistook mistaken a greşi, a confunda
to misunderstand misunderstood misunderstood a înţelege greşit
to pay paid paid a plăti
to put put put a pune, a aşeza
to read read read a citi
to rend rent rent a sfîşia
to ride rode ridden a călări, a mîna (caii)
to ring rang rung a suna
to rise rose risen a se ridica, a răsări
to run ran run a alerga, a fugi
to saw sawed sawn a tăia cu fierăstrăul
to say said said a spune, a zice
to see saw seen a vedea
to seek sought sought a căuta
to sell sold sold a vinde
to send sent sent a trimite
to set set set a aranja, a stabili
to sew sewed sewn a coase
to shake shook shaken a se zgudui
to shine shone shone a străluci
to shoot shot shot a împuşca
to show showed shown a (se) arăta
to shut shut shut a (se) închide
to sing sang sung a cînta (din gură)
to sink sank sunk(en) a (se) scufunda
to sit sat sat a sta jos, a şedea
to sleep slept slept a dormi
to smell smelled, smelt smelled, smelt a mirosi
to sow sowed sown a planta, a semăna
119
to speak spoke spoken a vorbi
to speed sped sped a accelera, a grăbi
to spell spelled, spelt spelled, spelt a silabisi
to spend spent spent a cheltui, a petrece
to spill spilt spilt a vărsa
to spin spun spun a (se) răsuci
to split split split a despica
to spoil spoiled, spoilt spoiled, spoilt a strica, a răsfăţa
to spread spread spread a (se) răspîndi
to stand stood stood a sta în picioare
to steal stole stolen a fura
to stick stuck stuck a (se) lipi, a se fixa
to strike struck struck, stricken a izbi, a lovi
to take took taken a lua
to teach taught taught a învăţa (pe cineva), a preda
to tell told told a spune, a povesti
to write wrote written a scrie
120

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Departamentul de Studii pentru Învăţământ cu Frecvenţă Redusă

Lect. univ. dr. Elena NISTOR

The author would like to thank:

UNIT 1 THE AGRARIAN ECONOMIES OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN

UNIT 2 COMPETITIVENESS …………………………………………………….. 17

UNIT 3 ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF AGRICULTURAL TRADE

UNIT 4 ECONOMIC GROWTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL GAIN …………... 43

UNIT 5 THE FEATURES OF AGRICULTURAL NONPOINT SOURCE

UNIT 6 SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE ………………………………………. 67

UNIT 7 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

EVALUATION TEST ……………………………………………………………………. 93

SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS ……………………………………………………………. 97

Allocated time / unit: 4 hours

The agrarian economies of Central and

Exercise 2. Give synonyms for the following:

Exercise 3. Complete the following sentences with the suitable words:

Exercise 5. Translate the following text into English:

Country Analysis: ROMANIA

Macroeconomic Framework for Agriculture

Objectives; Proposed Actions

Macroeconomic Framework for Agriculture

Allocated time / unit: 4 hours

Exercise 2. Give synonyms for the following:

Exercise 3. Complete the following sentences with suitable words:

Exercise 5. Translate the following text into English:

Allocated time / unit: 4 hours

Multilateral trade liberalization in

Exercise 2. Give synonyms for the following:

Exercise 3. Complete the following sentences with the suitable words:

Exercise 5. Translate the following text into English:

Together with domestic agricultural policy reforms, agricultural trade liberalization be

Allocated time / unit: 4 hours

Historically, economic expansion has led to

Exercise 2. Give synonyms for the following:

Exercise 5. Translate the following text into English:

Allocated time / unit: 4 hours

Nitrogen and phosphorus are important

Exercise 2. Give synonyms for the following:

Exercise 3. Complete the following sentences with the suitable words:

Exercise 5. Translate the following text into English:

Allocated time / unit: 4 hours

After World War II, agricultural farms

Exercise 3. Complete the following sentences with the suitable words:

Exercise 5. Translate the following text into English:

Într-un sistem de agricultură ecologică se are în vedere dezvoltarea de exploataţii

Allocated time / unit: 4 hours

Exercise 2. Give synonyms for the following:

Exercise 3. Complete the following sentences with the suitable words:

Exercise 5. Translate the following text into English:

Agriculture and Humankind

Agricultural Systems – Concept and Features

Conventional Agricultural Systems

1. Extensive agricultural systems

2. Intensive agricultural systems

3. Industrial agricultural systems (industrialized)

Alternative Agricultural Systems

Alternative agricultural systems are systems of agricultural production that employ a

1. Sustainable agricultural systems

2. Ecological (biological or organic) agricultural systems

3. Precision agricultural systems

4. Low-input agricultural systems

5. Natural agricultural systems

Ecological Agriculture in the World – Present and Future