RESEARCH ON THE EVOLUTION OF THE NUMBER OF AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS IN THE PERIOD 2002 - 2016.

Rural space is an important social component for each country. Phenomena such as ageing population and migration of young people to large urban centres or outside Romania's borders have led to the depopulation of these areas. This paper is identify from the point of view of legislation, how to classify holdings according to agricultural activity, but how they are classified according to economic size. The aim of the work is to identify the evolution of the number of holdings influenced by various factors, but also to determine the position that Romania must have with regard to agricultural holdings in relation to other countries of the European Union. The quantitative and qualitative method of data analysis was used in this paper. Also, the analyzed data show that the methods of subsidizing and financing agricultural holdings have contributed to the decrease in the total number of agricultural holdings (mergers) in Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]