The agricultural sector is of vital importance for the region. It is undergoing a process of transition to a market economy, with substantial changes in the social, legal, structural, productive and supply set-ups, as is the case with all other sectors of the economy. These changes have been accompanied by a decline in agricultural production for most countries, and have affected also the national seed supply sectors of the region. The region has had to face problems of food insecurity and some countries have needed food aid for IDPs and refugees.
Due to the relatively low demographic pressure projected for the future, the presence of some favourable types of climates and other positive factors, including a very wide formal seed supply sector, it should be possible to overcome problems of food insecurity in the region as a whole, and even to use this region to provide food to other food-deficient regions. Opportunities must therefore be created to reach these results.
In order to address the main constraints affecting the development of the national and regional seed supplies that are mentioned here, the region requires integrated efforts by all national and international stakeholders and institutions involved in seed supply and plant genetic resource management. On practical issues, lessons learned by some countries could be shared with other countries; e.g. on how to progress with the transition or how to recognize the most immediate needs of farmers. Appropriate policies should also be established, at various levels, in order to facilitate seed investment and development in the region.
LITERATURE CITED
Brent, K., and Adams, G. 2000. Extension and research for farm competitiveness. p.208-229, in: C. Csaki and Z. Lerman (eds). Structure change in the farming sectors in Central and Eastern Europe. World Bank Technical Paper, No. 465.
Cromwell, E., Friis-Hansen, E., and Turner, M. 1992. The seed sector in developing countries: a framework for performance analysis. Working Paper, No. 65. London: ODI.
Csaki, C., and Nash. J. 1998. The agrarian economies of Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States: Situation and perspectives, 1997. World Bank Discussion Paper, No. 387.
Erjavec. E., Rednack, M., and Volk, T. 1999. The European Union enlargement - the case of agriculture in Slovenia. Food Policy, 23(5): 395-409.
FAO. 1996. Global Plan of Action. FAO, Rome Italy.
FAO. 1997. Report of the World Food Summit. Rome, 13-17 November 1996. Rome: FAO.
FAO. 1998a. State of Food and Agriculture. Rome: FAO.
FAO. 1998b. The State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: FAO.
FAO. 1999. FAO Production Yearbook. FAO Statistics Series 148. v.52. FAO, Rome, Italy.
FAO. 2000. State of food insecurity in the world. Taken from the FAO Website (www.fao.org).
Frohberg, K. 2000. Competitiveness of farming in countries associated with EU under the common agricultural policy. p.39-65, in: C. Csaki and Z. Lerman (eds). Structure change in the farming sectors in Central and Eastern Europe. World Bank Technical Paper, No. 465.
Jaffee, S., and Srivastava, J. 1992. Seed system development: The appropriate roles of the private and public sectors. World Bank Papers, No. 167.
Kelly. A.F. 1992. Seed planning and policy for Agricultural Production: The roles of government and private enterprise in supply and distribution. London and New York: Belhaven Press.
Lerman, Z. 2000. Status of land reform and farm re-structuring in Central and Eastern Europe: A regional overview. p. 3-21, in: C. Csaki and Z. Lerman (eds). Structure change in the farming sectors in Central and Eastern Europe. World Bank Technical Paper, No. 465.
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Annex Table. Land use and cropping area (Harvested area in 1999)
|
COUNTRY |
Arable land |
Perm. Crops |
Perm. Pasture |
Cereals (ha) |
Pulses (ha) |
Oil Crops (ha) |
Industrial Crops (ha) |
Potato (ha) |
Fruits (excl. melon) (ha) |
Grape (ha) |
|||||
|
Wheat |
Maize |
Barley |
Sunflower |
Soya |
Cotton |
Tobacco |
Sugar beet |
||||||||
|
Albania |
577 |
122 |
429 |
109 000 |
55 000 |
1 600 |
29 600 |
1 600 |
700 |
780 |
6 700 |
1 300 |
11 400 |
25 787 |
5 377 |
|
Armenia |
495 |
65 |
834 |
95 000 |
1 500 |
70 000 |
1 915 |
- |
- |
- |
20 |
- |
31 060 |
57 500 |
21 500 |
|
Azerbaijan |
1 672 |
263 |
2 479 |
515 000 |
10 467 |
55 000 |
4 503 |
- |
350 |
101 000 |
7 500 |
78 000 |
35 000 |
107 500 |
50 000 |
|
Belarus |
6,187 |
124 |
2 996 |
280 000 |
2 000 |
768 000 |
212 000 |
10 000 |
- |
- |
800 |
53 000 |
680 000 |
103 500 |
- |
|
Bosnia & Herz. |
500 |
150 |
1 200 |
50 000 |
70 000 |
16 000 |
13 220 |
- |
3 500 |
- |
3 400 |
- |
49 000 |
37 200 |
3 300 |
|
Bulgaria |
4 291 |
220 |
1 692 |
915 000 |
370 000 |
250 000 |
55 330 |
450 000 |
3 000 |
7 150 |
30 000 |
4 000 |
50 866 |
173 480 |
107 000 |
|
Croatia |
1 458 |
129 |
1 564 |
169 280 |
384 184 |
44 517 |
11 791 |
41 996 |
46 336 |
- |
6 490 |
27 847 |
63 374 |
86 235 |
54 694 |
|
Czech Rep. |
3 101 |
232 |
947 |
867 360 |
39 447 |
543 696 |
47 374 |
28 450 |
365 |
- |
- |
59 078 |
71 505 |
130 835 |
12 519 |
|
Estonia |
1 120 |
15 |
299 |
68 000 |
- |
165 000 |
5 700 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
17 |
34 000 |
13 900 |
300 |
|
Georgia |
785 |
285 |
1 930 |
160 000 |
227 000 |
30 000 |
9 804 |
60 000 |
1 997 |
- |
2 950 |
- |
35 000 |
182 300 |
70 000 |
|
Hungary |
4 819 |
226 |
1 148 |
734 000 |
1 120 000 |
333 000 |
62 365 |
520 000 |
30 000 |
- |
8 747 |
66 000 |
56 000 |
226 799 |
99 099 |
|
Kazakhstan |
30 000 |
135 |
182 326 |
8 736 300 |
65 500 |
1 700 000 |
17 400 |
213 300 |
3 000 |
249 400 |
4 600 |
17 100 |
156 300 |
64 100 |
9 100 |
|
Kyrgyzstan |
1 350 |
75 |
9 216 |
455 000 |
47 440 |
106 000 |
- |
- |
- |
86 900 |
11 878 |
26 500 |
64 021 |
35 500 |
6 500 |
|
Latvia |
1 841 |
30 |
618 |
146 000 |
- |
147 300 |
4 946 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
15 470 |
50 100 |
11 700 |
- |
|
Lithuania |
2 945 |
59 |
492 |
329 500 |
- |
477 000 |
52 300 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
31 300 |
120 400 |
35 550 |
5 000 |
|
Macedonia FYR |
587 |
48 |
656 |
115 439 |
45 589 |
53 541 |
10 798 |
12 522 |
- |
- |
24 984 |
1 784 |
13 258 |
41 992 |
28 812 |
|
Moldova |
1 796 |
386 |
374 |
338 130 |
401 588 |
106 919 |
53 500 |
215 082 |
2 300 |
- |
18 397 |
60 964 |
66 449 |
296 000 |
152 000 |
|
Mongolia |
1 321 |
- |
117 147 |
274 812 |
- |
4 500 |
1 500 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
8 661 |
65 |
- |
|
Poland |
13 999 |
380 |
4 064 |
2 582 969 |
104 200 |
1 107 456 |
142 460 |
- |
- |
- |
20 868 |
371 714 |
1 267 848 |
384 789 |
- |
|
Romania |
9 325 |
518 |
4 904 |
1 666 275 |
3 006 200 |
213 859 |
38 124 |
1 034 822 |
98 208 |
18 |
10 935 |
65 189 |
273 500 |
467 273 |
254 700 |
|
Russian Fed. |
126 000 |
1 827 |
89 328 |
22 985 000 |
744 000 |
10 700 000 |
1 037 700 |
3 984 000 |
455 000 |
- |
1 000 |
813 450 |
3 250 000 |
795 400 |
70 000 |
|
Slovakia |
1 471 |
133 |
840 |
297 700 |
129 937 |
248 700 |
43 676 |
95 175 |
4 165 |
- |
835 |
34 458 |
26 832 |
34 288 |
17 583 |
|
Slovenia |
231 |
54 |
495 |
31 615 |
44 401 |
10 935 |
3 389 |
70 |
4 |
- |
- |
10 837 |
9 840 |
37 514 |
16 591 |
|
Tajikistan |
760 |
130 |
3 500 |
235 000 |
16 000 |
17 000 |
4 600 |
- |
- |
316 327 |
5 000 |
- |
15 000 |
107 500 |
32 000 |
|
Turkey |
24 438 |
2 530 |
12 378 |
8 650 000 |
625 000 |
3 770 000 |
1 651 600 |
545 000 |
22 000 |
2 093 370 |
293 300 |
500 000 |
205 00 |
1 018 626 |
560 000 |
|
Turkmenistan |
1 630 |
65 |
30 700 |
650 000 |
20 000 |
82 000 |
6 000 |
|
- |
1 300 000 |
850 |
- |
5 000 |
45 000 |
25 000 |
|
Ukraine |
32 858 |
963 |
7 790 |
5 910 000 |
687 500 |
3 468 500 |
503 000 |
2 780 000 |
33 000 |
- |
3 600 |
950 000 |
1 513 000 |
622 000 |
110 000 |
|
Uzbekistan |
4 475 |
375 |
22 800 |
1 300 000 |
42 000 |
170 000 |
12 000 |
3 500 |
- |
3 680 000 |
7 000 |
19 000 |
52 000 |
245 000 |
102 000 |
|
Yugoslavia |
3 721 |
351 |
2 134 |
681 000 |
1 268 000 |
68 000 |
62 700 |
182 000 |
108 000 |
- |
10 000 |
68 000 |
110 000 |
305 000 |
79 000 |
Source: FAOSTAT website (http://internal.fao.org)
