MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC PLANTS (MAP) – A CHAIN OF COMPETITIVENESS IN ROMANIAN AGRICULTURE

On agro-food products’ market of the European Market a saturation of products has been reached, attaining the stage of limitation, by means of certain policies and specific levers, of the expansion of this market. Romania faced the situation of member state of EU, when, after year 2006, it entered a harsh competition, in which the predominant word is saturation. This is the reason for which the post-accession studies in agriculture must aim both at valorizing the natural potential of not-exploited or less exploited resources of Romania, and at finding out solutions to increase competitiveness of the field, in which Romania feels threatened, aiming first of all at the markets of traditional products. Competitiveness is based on criteria of economic efficiency, according to which an important place takes the rational and efficient exploitation of the natural resources, especially in agriculture. In order to point out the significance of MAP cultures, we will make a comparison of some indicators of efficience of the wheat, corn, colza cultures and several medicinal plants which were cultivated and studied. The comparison will be made taking into consideration both the data of average efficiency in case of MAP (using classical technologies, without applying the knowledge discovered by the researches of the field), and the maximal ones on the crops and MAP cultures (by application of knowledge resulted from agronomic research specific for the improvement of the technology of each species of MAP). This field MAP is so much the more important for Romania as this country owns elements of environment favourable for a potential exploitation of the medical aromatic plants, without affecting the traditional cultures in the agricultural areas