DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7509-904-4-0123

INTEGRATION OF NICHE AGRICULTURAL CROPS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ROMANIAN RURAL TOURISM. CASE STUDY: WALNUT CULTURE IN ROMANIA AFTER 1990

Constantin-Răzvan Oprea, Roxana Cuculici, Iulian Săndulache

The study concerns walnut culture in Romania in the period 1990-2021. We considered the research useful because, in recent years, Romania had significant production at the European level. The walnut is a species of the tree protected by law, with ancient history in the Romanian landscape, reflected in toponymy and mentioned in medieval documents. Statistical data were used on the total number of trees per fruit and fruit production in tones. The analysis was carried out at the county level, making comparisons of the distribution of the percentages of the studied indicators. Although the total number of fruit trees registered a negative growth rate at the national level (-40%), for walnuts, the growth rate registered a very slight increase (+1%). In 2021, the largest number of trees will be found in Vâlcea County, which registers 5.85% of the total at the national level. In the same year, the lowest number of walnuts can be found in Ialomița County, with 0.09% of the national total. At the same time, walnut production at the national level registered a growth rate of +116%. The average value for each tree, obtained by calculation, increased at the level of Romania from 10 kg in 1990 to 30 kg in 2021. The results of this study highlighted, in the end, the importance of niche crops such as walnut culture in promoting Romanian traditions and rural tourism.

Keywords: counties of Romania, Juglans trees, diachronic analysis, rural tourism

pages: 123-129, Published: 2023, online: 2023