Scenarios for bridging up the productivity gaps along the Romanian vegetable supply chain.

In recent years, the productivity of agri-food sector has become again a subject of interest due global challenges caused by increasing food demand in new emerging countries, non-food uses of agricultural production for biofuels, and the impact of technology and innovation on productivity in agriculture, including the fast development of large retail chains, which can lead to growth and poverty alleviation in both rural and urban areas. Interest in this topic is marked mainly by higher volatily prices and production of vegetables and the current incapacity of the Romanian vegetable producers to fully cover the domestic demand. The aim of this paper is the analysis of productivity in primary production and processing sector level, using as methodology specific indicators and  scenarios to bridge up production gaps so that the demand is fully covered by the domestic production. The results show that in case of a realistic scenario, taking into account the growth rates of the area cultivated with vegetables under greenhouses and plastic tunnels by over 50 % in the last five years, this goal is possible. However, the scenario might become achievable only in the case that the organization level increases significantly from about 1% at present to about 30%, the average organization level in the European Uninon.