Aspects concerning the characteristics and trends in production and processing milk in Romania

Abstract

Milk production in Romania`s agriculture occupies second place in importance after meat production in 2007 and represented 21% of animal production and 8% of agricultural production. Milk is a highly perishable product, so it is necessary along the production chain - processing - use to be a logistical system that functionally able to provide consumer desired products in the shortest time, as appropriate and the superior quality parameters. A key feature of milk and dairy sector in Romania is the use of small quantities of total production of milk by processing companies, only 21% of estimated production of milk being delivered for processing, the rest being for domestic consumption (41%) , feed consumption (12%), the producer sold through street markets and direct sales to consumers with low incomes (26%). In Romania, the privatization process in the dairy farms has resulted in their fragmentation. Thus, the private sector has become predominant: in 2002, owns 99% of the herd of cows and provide 98% of milk production, but it is represented mainly by small family farms. In all countries there are 1.2 million dairy farms, which is concentrated in a flock of 1.7 million heads. Average size of holding is 1.46 cows, the highest share (95%) being held by households with 1-2 heads. Farms that have over 100 head is only 0.01% of total and 84% belong to the former state sector.