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The paper analyzed the number of beehives and honey production at the global level and in the European Union as well as the main problems honey bees are facing nowadays and how they could be solved. The statistical data for the period 2000-2022 provided by FAOStat, Knoema, Eurostat and other official data bases have been processed using fixed basis and structural indices, trend regression equations (linear and polynomial), R square, descriptive statistics, regression analysis, correlation coefficient, comparison method. Compared to 58.8 million beehives in the world in the year 2000, in 2022 their number reached 102 million (+76.3%). The share of beehives by continent is: Asia 44.6%, Europe 24.7%, Africa 17.7%, Americas 11.4% and Oceania 1.4%. The highest number of bee hives is in India, China Mainland, Turkey, Iran (Islamic Rep.), Ethiopia, Russian Federation, Argentina, Tanzania (U. Rep.), USA and Mexico. In 2022, the EU had 20.27 million beehives, meaning +19.44% versus 2016. The largest number of bee hives in the EU is in Spain, Romania, Greece, Poland, Italy, France, Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria and Czechia. From 1.25 million tons in the year 2000, the global honey production reached 1.83 million tons in 2022 (+45.8%). The regression equation: y = 0.0148 x + 0.4064 shows that an increase by one million beehives will determine a growth by 0.0148 million tons of honey at the global level. From the peak of 22.5 kg honey per bee hives in the year 2005, in 2022, it was registered 17.9 kg at the global level. Honey production by continent in 2022 was: Asia 48.2%, Europe 22.8%, Americas 18.5%, Africa 8.5% and Oceania 2%. In 2022, the top 10 honey producing countries at the global level were: China, EU-27, Turkey, Iran (Islamic Rep.), India, Argentina, Russian Federation, Mexico, Ukraine and Brazil, all together representing 73.6% of the world honey production. In 2014, the EU produced 235 thousand tons honey and in 2022 it achieved 286 thousand tons (+21.7%). The top honey producing countries are Germany, France, Romania, Spain, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Greece, Bulgaria and Portugal. A bee hives produces 21 kg honey in average, but there are EU countries with higher yields: Finland, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Austria, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia and France. To solve the crisis of biodiversity, pollution and climate change, specific recommendations are destined to improve the ratio between the managed honey bees and wild bees so that the wild bees to have access to flowering sources, to benefit of a suitable habitat to live and reproduce and biodiversity not to suffer. Special measures have to be taken in the cities so that the balance between honey and wild bees to be preserved and the residents and tourists not to be affected. Severe cleaning and hygiene in the apiary, avoiding bees imports, making treatments based on organic medicines could avoid diseases and pests. Farmers have to avoid the use of Neonicotinoids pesticides to help apiculturists not to have bees losses. Beekeeping technology must be adapted to the local conditions and weather alerts, assuring flowering sources, bees reproduction and food storage, as the bee families to pass easier over the winter. An intensified consultancy service, investments in new technologies, a balanced transhumance, more effective marketing actions could increase honey production and quality and stimulate consumption in the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper emphasizes the importance of subsidizing agricultural activities, taking into account the climate changes that are more and more evident making agricultural holdings particularly vulnerable from an economic point of view, the most exposed being the small ones. The technical-economic the economic-financial analysis methods drew a technical-economic diagnosis of a small-scale vegetable farm in Romania, in order to highlight the major impact that subsidies have in achieving incomes that ensure the continuity of the activity. The vegetable farm under study was established in 2018, being included in the category of micro-enterprises paying income tax. It owns agricultural land exclusively on lease, the existing crops being those of wheat, corn, alfalfa, bell peppers and melons, with average productions/ha achieved similar to or below the average productions/ha recorded at national, regional and county level. From an economic and financial point of view, this holding presents a financial instability during the analysis period, based on the losses recorded in 2018 and 2020 and a non-compliant financial autonomy based on insufficient equity capital. It does not have the ability to generate constant profit during the period included in the study by capitalizing on production, it being small and insufficient, which denotes the major dependence on the income from exploitation subsidies in order to be profitable. Liquidity indicators evolve fluctuating and solvency is generally downward and positioned above the safety threshold, which places small-scale vegetable farms at risk of insolvency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting with the summer of 2020, the farms inputs prices, especially for diesel, seeds, fertilizers and pesticides as well as of grains (cereals and oilseeds) started fluctuating excessively. This phenomenon caused great uncertainty in farmers economic activity, especially for the crop farms that are bulk selling all their products to traders. The uncertainty was primarily caused by the overlap of several factors, some of which were more predictable and some of which took everyone by surprise and caused panic and volatility on the stock markets. The unfortunate events sequence began in early 2020, with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic that caused disruptions in supply chains, import-export bans and lockdowns that reduced the consumption of agri-food products in the HORECA industry. For Romanian farmers, the disturbance created by the pandemic also overlapped with the severe drought that affected production levels in 2020 and 2022, as well as with the hostilities in the region which started at the end of February 2022, and led to the agricultural inputs excessive price increase and high volatility on the commodities exchange. In this sequence of unfortunate events, the farmers' decision regarding the stored grains volumes, inputs purchasing timing and grains selling timing, made a major difference for their business' financial stability and profitability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper purpose was to assess the impact of climate change on wheat, maize and sunflower yield in the period 2017-2021, using statistical data from National Institute of Statistics (NIS) and National Administration of Meteorology (NAM) and other sources. Comparison method was used to evaluate the deviations between the registered air temperatures and precipitations and the 1981-2010 climatological norm. Graphic method reflected the dynamics of monthly air temperatures and rainfalls in each year. Descriptive statistics for mean, standard deviation and coefficient of variation reflected an more comprehensive image upon air temperature, precipitations and yield. Correlations and regression equations were used to establish the intensity of the kinks between climate factors and yield. The highest average air temperature In Romania was 12.130C in 2019. In the period 2017-2020, the average annual temperatures exceeded the climatological norm 1981-2010 accounting for 9.10C. The lowest rainfalls, 614.2 mm, were recorded in 2019, being below of 633.1 mm the norm for the period 1981-2010. The high temperatures associated with drought and low precipitations have deeply affected yield of many agricultural crops, including maize, wheat and sunflower. The highest wheat yield 4,888 kg/ha was achieved in 2017, and the lowest one, 2,966 kg/ha in 2020. Maize registered the highest performance of 7,644 kg/ha in 2018, and the lowest one, 3,977 kg/ha in 2020. Sunflower carried out the high performance 3,041 kg/ha in 2018, and the lowest one, 1,858 kg/ha in 2020. The worst agricultural years for these three crops was 2020, but 2017 favored wheat, while 2018 favored maize and sunflower. The correlation coefficient had in general small values between average temperature and yield, but a higher link with precipitations level. The multiple correlation between yield, air temperatures and precipitations was: r= 0.817 for wheat, r = 0.116 for maize and r = 0.504 for sunflower. In the South Eastern Dobrogea, the driest area in Romania, the rainfalls declined by 65% in the period 2018-2020 having a deep negative impact on sunflower seeds yield, which decreased from 4,282 kg/ha in 2018, to 1,503 kg/ha in 2020. The correlation between precipitations and sunflower yield positive and very strong (r = 0.737). As a conclusion, the climate conditions should be analyzed in each farm and farmers have to take measure to adapt the technologies for sustaining production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research was focused on yields dynamics of the main agricultural crops: wheat, maize, barley, oats, sunflower and rape recorded in Romania and especially in Dobrogea region in =order to identify in what measure they were affected by climate change, mainly by drought in two decades: 2000-2009 and 2010-2019. For this purpose, there were calculated the negative deviations of yield in each year from the average of each decade, and also the differences between the average decade yield in Dobrogea region and at the country level. The results proved substantial negative deviations for almost all the crops compared to the decade averages, and a smaller production performance in Dobrogea region versus yield level in Romania. All these differences were caused by the change in climate factors: the increased air temperature, low of lack of precipitations, low or lack of water resource into the soil, which characterize the severe and strong droughts with which Romania, and mainly Dobrogea region were facing during the last 20 years. In order to reduce the economic, social and environmental impact of droughts, the authorities have to develop sustainable strategies in order to support agriculture with irrigation systems and other measures of protection (financial aid to cover losses, tax exemption, extending the terms of repayment of the debts etc), and farmers have to continue their efforts for adapting the technologies cultivating high production potential varieties and hybrids resistant to drought, diseases and pests, choosing the right moment and depth for sowing, fertilization level and plant protection. Only in this way, farmers could obtain a production performance able to cover costs and assure profitableness of their business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]