With positive and negative moments, 2021 is coming to an end and what it generated leaves an imprint on the destiny of the person, family, the country. IPN spoke with those who care and have what to say about victories and failures, hopes and letdowns, achievements and losses. How 2021 was for man and farmer Vasile Mârzenco, executive director of the National Farmers Federation.
For Vasile Mârzenco, 2021 was a year with dark clouds. In November, he became a widower. It is hard for him to speak about this as he lost a dear person who had been near him in good and in bad moments throughout his lifetime. “It is a huge loss for our family that will have a long-lasting impact on us, until we are alive. I live with hope in tomorrow and with the thought about the future of my children and grandchildren”.
He is glad that the wheat, corn and sunflower crops were large this year. “However, the prices were lower than in other years. The prices of vegetables grown in hothouse were three-four times lower than last year. We suffered losses in this field. But it happens so in agriculture – you either gain or lose.”
Farming is a business transmitted from generation to generation in Vasile Mârzenco’s family. He signed over a large part of the land he owned to his daughter and son-in-law who manage a farmstead. He convinced them to buy a tractor so as to develop their business. ”I want my children to work further in this sector, together with me for now, in my native village Tătărești of Strășeni district, and to then extend their business and transmit it to my grandchildren”.
The year 2021 was mostly a successful agricultural year. Even if they faced difficulties after last year’s drought, the farmers managed to sow the farmland, to cultivate it and to obtain large grain and sunflower crops. The harvests were also good in winegrowing and fruit growing. “But another scourge hit us – the high prices of fuel, seeds, fertilizers, pesticides. They rose considerably this autumn and even doubled. As a result, the cost of agricultural production remains high. No one can guarantee that the agricultural year 2022 will be as rich as 2021. If we gather less than 3 tonnes of wheat per hectare, the financial result will be negative for farmers, which is we will sustain losses.”
Besides the faced difficulties, the lack of adequate precipitation also had a severe impact this autumn. “As it rained insufficiently this year, in 2022 we will have lower harvests of wheat and other grain crops. But we hope they will not be as low as to discourage the farmers from continuing work in this sector. Most of the farmers of this country work with pleasure and with love for nature and land,” concluded Vasile Mârzenco, executive director of the National Farmers Federation.
