Agriculture Year 2006 brings bad news. We’ll wait for good news in 2008. Commentary by Info-Prim Neo

2006 was the year when the accomplishments were fewer compared with the regresses in agriculture, a year when such a situation became unacceptable. A potential unwillingness of the Government to see the real deficiencies of the agriculture might change this sector into a real “wound” of Moldova’s economy that will create problems to the entire body. [Lack of reforms] The main problem of the agricultural field is that after the grand land reform, when the agricultural land was distributed to farmers, this sector was not supported and is continuing run without a strong development strategy. The plans related to the development of agriculture, recently approved by the Government, show the lack of a long-term approach. Maximum ceilings were settled in what concerns the volume of production on different agricultural groups, that have to be reached in a mid-term period, but the majority of these estimations do not have practical grounds, in other words they are not adjusted to the situation on the market. More, these pseudo-strategies look more like soviet plans rather than development plans. For example, the insistence of the ministry in increasing the production of tobacco while all the processing plants went bankrupt, shows stubbornness in switching on the failed engine of an entire industry (planed for covering the needs of the economy of the former USSR), which can be saved only by a strong market strategy. This situation causes incertitude among agricultural companies and investors. [Poor Incentives] At the same time, the Ministry of Agriculture, instead of becoming a reliable partner of the agricultural companies, providing them for instance with information about demands and offers on the internal and external markets, as well as on the possible evolutions, it applies policies that push away the companies. The almost forced strengthening of the farmlands, selective support of companies depending on quite ambiguous criteria, promotion of some “strategic” cultures, without offering profitableness guaranties – are only a few examples. Moldova lacks a grounded strategy on the attraction of investments, development of the technical base, development of the transport and storing infrastructure, promotion of exports. As a result, the Moldovan agriculture continues to be toothless, meaning that all the evolutions are depending on the volume of rains, cold winters, in-time farming etc. In other words, the agriculture continues to stay at a primary stage of development, when a significant part of the works is hand-done. This is the reason why productivity is at such a level that it provides the farmers only with elementary means for existence, and not for development, expansion and implementation of advanced technologies. [Milestone Year] All these arguments make us believe that 2006 will end with negative results in what concerns the achievements in agriculture. A decrease by 2% of the production, as the Ministry of Agriculture plans (it was planned to increase by 3% the production at the beginning of the year), could be a fair result. However there are reasons to believe that the regress will be more serious and will influence the results of 2007. In light of this situation, 2007 should be a milestone year as regards the promotion of reforms in agriculture, so that in 2008 it would be possible to start improving the sector.