LIVESTOCK AND ANIMAL PRODUCTION IN ROMANIA - DYNAMICS AND STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN THE PERIOD 2007-2020.

The paper analyzed the evolution animal sector regarding livestock and production in Romania in the period 2007-2020. Two sub-periods: P1- 2007-2013 and P2 2014-2020 were compared for assessing if the achievements in P2 were superior. The data from the National Institute of statistics regarding livestock and production by species were processed using fixed basis index, structural index, regression equations, coefficient of determination, multi annual mean per decade, absolute and relative differences between P2 and P1, in order to emphasize the trends and changes during the studied period. The results emphasized the following: the number of bovines, pigs and poultry decreased, while the number of sheep and goats and bee families increased both in P2 and P1. The total animal live weight at slaughter diminished due to the lower and lower live weight of bovines and pigs. However, the increased live weight at slaughter of sheep, goats and poultry had a positive impact. Milk and egg production declined and continued in P2, while wool and honey production increased. Despite that agricultural production value in animal sector increased by +20,420 trillion Lei in 2020 versus 2007, it was by 68.61% smaller than the agricultural production value achieved in the vegetal sector. In consequence, the contribution of animal sector to agricultural output was just 31.39% in the year 2020. The gaps in domestic production have to be covered by imports to meet consumers' requirements and this will deepen the deficit in agro-food trade balance. The reduction of CO₂ emissions in agriculture, where 50% come from animal sector, obliges farmers to set up strategies destined to promote animal products obtained from more environment friendly technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]