Particular Aspects of Fruit Farming in the Southeast of Poiana Ruscă Mountains

Particular Aspects of Fruit Farming in the Southeast of Poiana Ruscă Mountains Gheorghe-Gavrilă HOGNOGI, Ana-Maria POP*, Pompei COCEAN, Alexandra-Camelia POTRA, Nicoleta DAVID, Lelia PAPP Faculty of Geography, Centre for Regional Geography, Babeş-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, 5-7 Clinicilor Street, Romania. * corresponding author: [email protected] Bulletin UASVM Horticulture 75(1) / 2018 Print ISSN 1843-5262, Electronic ISSN 1843-536X DOI:10.15835/buasvmcn-hort: 004917 Abstract Alike some other territories in Transylvania, the area of Poiana Ruscă Mountains has been cultivated with fruit trees and vines, benefiting from favourable morphological, soil and climatic conditions. The purpose of our paper was to highlight the particularities of this representative occupation carried out by the local communities in the analyzed area. Through cartographic reconstructions we observed the diachronic evolution of the areas occupied with orchards and the valorisation and management of fruit products. Results confirmed that, despite the significant decline in fruit farming, the abandonment of orchards or the disappearance of nurseries, we can still find someKeywords: local initiatives encouraging the practice of fruit growing. Poiana Ruscă Mountains, fruit farming, Haţeg Depression, orchards, cartographic representations Introduction In Romania, the cultivation of fruit trees and destruction of the old fruit farms and the restitution vines dates back to the early antiquity, these of plots to the former landowners caused land two sub-branches of agriculture being part of fragmentation, whereas and the change of land the concerns and achievements of the Dacian use practically resulted in the destruction of large civilization. The significant extension and diversity portions of orchards mainly cultivated with apple of cultural landscapes resulting from the human trees, plum trees, pear trees or cherry trees. In action on soil in order to obtain the necessary this context of fragmentation of the old orchard vegetable products are irrefutable proofs (Cocean plots, mechanization and biotechnologization and David, 2014). of crops have become increasingly difficult and Although of great tradition and with a strong costly, many owners (growers) not being able to development during the communist period, financially support the modernization of their fruit farming has also suffered from the major farms, subsequently resulting in a significant preponderantly restrictive consequences of the decrease in productivity and efficiency of this changes in the Romanian economy after 1990. The agricultural practice. phenomenon of national des-agriculturalization, Along this obvious decline (Ministry of physical “desertification” of the rural space and Agriculture and Rural Development, 2015) in the the quasi-total disappearance of the rural social recent years, there have been some initiatives for economy, represented by the various occupations slight recovery, mainly focused on the development and crafts that exploited the local products in situ of agriculture in rural areas, financially supported (Otiman, 2012) massively affected the Depression by the European programs (namely the National of Haţeg, namely the villages under study. The Rural Development Program 2014-2020). The 24 et al HOGNOGI increasing trend in organic products consumption to large farms, food security, the existence of has quite resuscitated the traditional fruit natural predators for natural pest control (ADEPT processing within the households owning fruit Foundation, 2016). On the other hand, the very crops (fruit farms). The production of jams, low productivity of HNVF makes them the perfect canned fruit and even alcohol also contributes example for biodiversity preservation (Poux and to the establishment of local brands (i.e. “brandy Ramain, 2009). of Răchitova”) which will further stimulate the Fruit growing may have broad resurrection trade and make this occupation more efficient. On prospects, being able to provide quality products the other hand, although we can find numerous and cover the needs not only of the local raw products (namelyet al., apples) on the Romanian population but also of the neighbouring regions, commercial market, they are still predominantly which are less productive in this respect. Thus, imported (Dan 2015). priorfruit growingto transition. practices may even overcome the At the national level, the fruit sector has standards and efficiency recorded in the decades become a development priority and was addressed by the NRDP 2014-2020 as part of a sub-program The purpose of our research was to identify aiming to encourage actions focusing on the the diachronic peculiarities of fruit farming in the following: setting up new fruit farms, develop southeastern area of the Poiana Ruscă Mountains new orchards maintenance techniques or initiate and how this practice could be further developed. some forms ,of cooperation based on European The paper is structured in several sequences: funding (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural the first one reveals the research topic and the Development 2015). Once with the integration of conceptual framework; the second presents the Romania into the European Union as a Member methodology used; the third sequence shows the State, complying with the policies on nature results of the study, as follows: firstly, we present conservation implemented at the European level, the evolution of the fruit farming land as resulted some parts of agricultural land tend to disappear, from the cause-effect analysis, followed by the especially those poorly traditionally and identification of current dysfunctions based on intensively exploited. The concept of agriculture the diagnosis, and secondly, we analyze the future practiced on High Nature Value Farmlands (HNVF) options of the local communities to valorise and has emerged in the 1990s being today included in manage orchards; in the last sequence we try the Common Agricultural Policy as a criterion for to conclusively identify the directions for the the selection and distribution of some funding. development of fruit growing activities in Haţeg The HNVF represent those lands with natural and Depression.Materials and methods semi-natural vegetation (pastures), vegetation harvested by animal ethusbandry al., or mowing without the use of fertilizers or other incisive We studied the southeast area of the Poiana treatments (Keenleyside 2014). According to Ruscă Mountains, in Hunedoara County, consisting the estimates of the specialists from the European of 6 territorial administrative units (TAUs) Environmental Policy Institute, the most extensive (Haţeg, Răchitova, Densuş, General Berthelot, HNVF are found in Spain, Romania, Hungary and Sarmizegetusa, and Toteşti) on which territory Poland. thewe studiedfound the area highest is the harmoniousconcentration combination of slopes In Romania, the HNVF occupy approximately cultivated with fruit trees. A distinct feature of 30% of the total agricultural land (5 million hectares) mainly located in Transylvania, of physical-geographic conditions, the territory Maramureş and Northern Oltenia (Ministry overlapping the classical intra-mountainous of Agriculture and Rural Development, 2016). depression of Haţeg (Hognogi, 2016). The area is Almost the same values (4,860,372et al.,ha) were highly flattened, with deep deposits of sediments, also validated by the experts of the European the western part being characterized by mild and Environment Agency (Paracchini 2008). moderate slopes, south-east oriented, with great As identified by the experts of a joint project, sun exposure. The soil substrate consists mainly among the benefits of HNVF we mention: rural of luvisoils, cambisoils and spodosoils, with well- Bulletinvitality, UASVM high Horticulture productivity 75(1) / 2018 of small farms compared structured horizons and rather largely extended, 25 Particular Aspects of Fruit Farming in the Southeast of Poiana Ruscă Mountains Figure 1 . The study area which, especially in the case of the first class, Pădureni - Land of Haţeg”, but it is also part of makes them suitable for an optimal cultivation of the mountainous region (generally overlapping the plants of the category mentioned above. Poiana Ruscă Mountains) subject to DISRUR The location of the TAUs in an intra- Project (Demographic Disparities in Rural Areas), mountainous area (massifs of Retezat, Poiana financed by the PN III Programme/Subprogram Ruscă and Şureanu) makes them shape a quasi- 3.1. Bilateral/ multilateral/Module AUF-RO. closed space, with typical shelter climate, Methodologically, we carried out the protected from strong winds and climatic chronological analysis of plots occupied by extremes that usually bring phenological risks orchards based on cartographic reconstruction and vulnerabilities. The protective climate may (Tab. 1). also be supported by “a foehn wind suspected to Data processing implied the creation of be present on the southwestern slopes of Poiana evolutionary cartographic representations, Ruscă Mountains (Hognogi and Văidean, 2015). validated by field documentation in the The analysed area is included into the investigated localities, between June and July LocalTable Action1. Group LAG - Microregion “Land of 2016. The data on the valorisation of fruit growing AnalyzedCartographic period resources used for orchardCartographic analysis resources employed 806-1869 The second Habsburg topographic survey, scale 1:25,000 1940 The Soviet military map, scale 1:50,000

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