EUROPEAN FRAME FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE IN ROMANIA: POLICIES AND STRATEGIES

The idea of sustainable farming relies on raising its yield along with a safe and constant gain with minimum environmental impact and by ensuring the population's food security.Sustainable agriculture is a large concept that encompasses the complexity of this production system, the biological stability of farming plants and varieties, the conservation and protection of natural resources, but also the implementing and generalization of high-output modern technologies.Sustainable agriculture involves economically viable technologies over a long time span with large crops, obtained with lower costs.Any agricultural system must have as high as possible a long-term productivity which is not only determined by the quality of the resources pool, but also by the socioeconomical framework.This is why the agricultural production systems' sustainability has at the same time a physical and a socio-economical dimension.Sustainable agriculture contributes to prevent, control the ecological disasters, the re-enhancement of ecosystems, soil fertilization and improvement of national quality of food.Sustainable agriculture must envisage the following aspects: maintain the production potential over a long time span, use rational agricultural practices, manage and protect natural resources, preserve agricultural biodiversity, secure farming profitability, provide sufficient and enough food for the entire population, social and human equity and ethics fostering.Sustainable agriculture must rely upon the farmers' tasks, requirements and aspirations, as well as on the restrictions they confront with not only in farming activities, but also in domestic and nonfarming activities.This paper describes the main European strategies and policies for sustainable agriculture, main tools applied to achieve its goals, and the policies and strategies applied at national level.