Technology Scouting and Inventions Patenting With Impact on the Agrifood Future

This chapter is the sketch of a possible pattern of the future world in which any kind of business will be developed in a completely new human, technological, agricultural, and commercial context, heavily and quickly changed from the one we live in now. The first objective of this chapter is to scout for the mega-technology trends that will reshape completely the future business and jobs, focusing on the agrifood industry. The second objective is to tackle the main challenges to patent inventions in terms of costs and timing in Romania, relative to other countries, and raise pragmatic recommendations. The third objective is to describe the institutional innovation called INACO (the Initiative for Competitiveness), a think-tank dedicated to tackle the challenges and opportunities of the future economy and how can a country such as Romania stay competitive in a more and more competitive world.

Romanian Agriculture Funding

Romania's EU integration has determined major economic changes, including the transition to a functional market economy which meant the existence of a competitive environment, free commercial exchanges, and free movement of people, capital, and services. To solve the existent delays, Romania has benefit from the European Community's funds for investment in agriculture and rural areas through the financial mechanism which assures non-reimbursable funds for farmers, private societies, and local authorities. Without claiming that we are exhausting the issue of financing in Romanian agriculture, the topic addressed brings some issues regarding the financing under the National Rural Development Program (NRDP) and the possible explanations of the low absorption rate of these funds. NRDP is a program which allow people to access non-reimbursable funds from EU and Romanian Government for economic and social development of the rural area.

Green Public Procurement

At present, legal provisions and environmental policy regulate the possibilities of using environmental considerations in the development of award criteria, as well as in the performance clauses of procurement contracts. The first part of the chapter analyzes the concept of green procurement and product categories for which green procurement can be used. The second part of the chapter presents the benefits of using green procurement. The third part of the chapter will include assessing the progress and impact of using green procurement. The fourth part of the chapter analyzes the legal framework for public procurement in Romania, as well as the capacity of the market to offer and develop products and services that include minimum environmental requirements and criteria. In the fifth part of the chapter, the authors analyze the possibility of implementing a mechanism for the operation and implementation of the legal provisions in Romania in order to improve the quality of the services and optimize the costs of the public procurement.

The Role of Higher Education in Supporting Sustainable Rural Entrepreneurship

This chapter refers to an empirical research that aims to analyze how the knowledge and skills acquired during undergraduate studies have been perceived by the graduate students and also how the higher education contributes to the development of entrepreneurship in rural areas. The research method identified as being more appropriate was a quantitative research based on an online survey established in accordance with the objectives set up. The participants in the research were the graduate students of the Faculty of Agri-food and Environmental Economy within The Bucharest University of Economic Studies. The findings are based on participants' open statements that could be important arguments to be taken into consideration for improving the decision making in higher education which would lead to the professional development of the graduates.

Organic Agriculture

Promoting sustainability, including the production and consumption of food, is badly needed nowadays, given the fact that consumers are increasingly concerned about protecting their health, through a thorough verification of food quality. From this perspective, organic food may represent a viable solution for a healthier future. Currently, we are witnessing a substantial increase in the number of countries, organizations, and companies encouraging organic farming, an economic activity that involves environmentally friendly agricultural practices. The main objective of this chapter is to reveal the growing importance of organic farming to the food markets. This research will also focus on presenting a very detailed analysis of the defining elements of organic agriculture, such as the evolution of certified organic surfaces, both contributory and disfavoring factors of the developing organic agriculture, and last but not least, overall outlook for global consumption of certified organic products.

Public-Private Partnership Model for Supporting Traditional Producers

Traditional products market in Romania is starting to become competitive as a result of the adoption of new legislative framework (Order 724/2013), which requires new conditions regarding traditional foods definition and limitation of produced quantity. At the end of 2016, there were 556 registered traditional products nationwide as follows: 456 limited liability company, 64 individual, 14 family business, 17 individual, and 15 individual enterprise. Given that there is a limitation in terms of traditional foods production, we must consider the effects of land taxation over the entrepreneur's income in this field. The aim of this study is to identify an effective model of public-private partnership that could support the traditional producers, while taking into consideration the role of financial instruments in order to remove the barriers between the farmer and the government. One of these forms is the association or creating groups of manufacturers.

Sustainable Development From a “Nature vs. Nurture” Perspective

This chapter presents the role of nature and nurture in shaping the behavior of human beings toward sustainability identifying instances of both dramatic extinctions of species and collapse of entire societies, as well as successful, peaceful, and healthy adaptation of human communities to their environment, in an attempt to presents the imperative conditions necessary for attaining sustainable development. A very long and intriguing history reveals that from the nature's point of view humans are rather destructive, interested in their own short-term survival. Nevertheless, the same long history of human species bears valuable lessons and examples of adaptive behaviors grounded by nurture, and based on these examples, the chapter aims at advancing a new perspective of thinking sustainable development that could lay the foundation of a new education curriculum.

The Effects of the Transition Period on the Knowledge Transfer Market in Romanian Agriculture

As the process of globalization intensifies, the demand for agri-food products is growing and much technical progress is needed. In the process of manufacturing agri-food products, a special role is played by the knowledge transfer market. At the same time, its functionality is given by the size, quality, and structure of the main components: supply and demand of information and knowledge, linkages between the two components. Linkage vectors between the two components coordinate the process of knowledge and information transferfrom the producers (research entities, universities, and the business sector) to the beneficiaries (the agricultural producers). The chapter captures the evolution of these actors involved in the knowledge transfer market of the Romanian agriculture.

European Agriculture in 2020

The chapter is structured in two parts: the first part presents the agricultural policy of the European Union in accordance with the Treaty of Lisbon and the Europe 2020 Strategy. At the same time, the National Rural Development Program of Romania is presented. In the second part of the chapter an econometric analysis of the agricultural sector is made. The linear multifactorial regression model presented in the second part of the chapter was based on data provided by Eurostat: surface cultivated with pesticides, GDP/capita, net investment in agriculture. The model proposed in this chapter explains and highlights the existence of a positive, linear, and significant relationship between the variables included in the model. The multiple linear regression model indicates that, with the increase of one million euros per GDP, the value of the surface cultivated with pesticides in Romania will grow by an average of 132.08 hectares.

Prerequisites for Relaunching Economic Growth in Romanian Agriculture by Promoting Associativity

The level of socio-economic development, the types of relations, and the existing legislation at some point in society represent basic elements in the operation of public-private partnership. In the post-revolution period, a series of difficulties and discontinuities in agricultural policies are manifested in the Romanian society, even after 27 years. It has affected the configuration and development of associative structures, including public-private partnerships from rural areas. Currently, the evolution of the representative associative structures in public-private partnership and the diversification of operation record more than the progressive process, a correlation with the local development plans. Also, concerns on behalf of the central public administration are recorded regarding the update of the legislative and institutional set-up of associative type, because it is one of the main tools for operating the common agricultural policy in accordance with the rules of the European Union.