|
Romania Agricultural Regions
The historic provinces of Walachia, Transylvania,
Moldavia,
Dobruja, and the Banat have distinct soil and climatic
conditions
that make them suitable for different types of agriculture
(see Climate
, ch. 2;
Land
, this ch.). The breadbasket of
Romania is
Walachia, which provides half the annual grain harvest and
roughly
half the fruit and grapes. Truck farming, especially in
the Ilfov
Agricultural District surrounding Bucharest, is also
important.
Despite the fertility of Walachia's soil, yields fluctuate
considerably from year to year because of recurrent
droughts.
Transylvania, which receives more precipitation than
Walachia, has
poorer soils and more rugged terrain that restricts
large-scale
mechanized farming. Livestock raising predominates in the
mountains, and potatoes and grains are the principal crops
in the
central basin. Moldavia has generally less fertile soil
than
Walachia and receives scant rainfall. Its primary crops
are corn,
wheat, fruit and grapes, and potatoes. The Banat region
has a
nearly ideal balance of rich chernozem soils and adequate
precipitation. Grain, primarily wheat, is the principal
crop;
fruits and vegetables are also important. Dobruja, a
region of
generally inadequate rainfall, was becoming agriculturally
more
important during the 1980s, because much of the marshland
in the
Danube Delta was being drained and brought under
cultivation. The
traditional crops of Dobruja are grain, sunflowers, and
legumes.
Data as of July 1989
|
