Rice production in Romania plays a fairly important role in food supply in Romania and is cultivated largely for domestic consumption but also for exports. As of 2009, Romania cultivated around of rice fields ranking third in the European Union in terms of rice area. The most important growing areas are located along the Danube River in Ialomița,

Brăila Brăila (, also , ) is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County. The ''Sud-Est'' Regional Development Agency is located in Brăila. According to the 2011 Romanian census there were 180,302 pe ...

Olt Olt or OLT may refer to: People: * Károly Olt (1904–1985), Hungarian politician * Mike Olt (born 1988), American baseball player Places: * Olt County, a county (județ) of Romania * Olt (river), a river in Romania ** Olt Defile, a defile that ...

and Dolj counties. In 2009 rice production reached 72,500 metric tons with a yield of 5.62 tons/hectare. According to

FAOSTAT The Food and Agriculture Organization Corporate Statistical Database (FAOSTAT) website disseminates statistical data collected and maintained by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). FAOSTAT data are provided as a time-series from 1961 in mo ...

in 2008 Romania was ranked sixth in rice production in the EU with 48,917

metric tons The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United States ...

, just after Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal and France. In Romania rice production began in the 1970s when the president Nicolae Ceauşescu, after visits to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and North Korea, forced peasants and convicts to cultivate and work rice fields located in South-Eastern Romania in Vlădeni commune. The action was supposed to make the country self-sufficient in terms of rice consumption. Total cultivated land reached in 1989 but dropped dramatically between 2000 and 2003 to . In 2003 several companies realized the potential growth of this crop in Romania and the cultivated surface started to rise from year to year to in 2004 to in 2006 and to in 2009. The most important investor in rice production in Romania is ''Riso Scotti Danubio'', owned by the Italian company Riso Scotti, the largest rice producer in Europe. In 2003 the company started to buy suitable lands for cultivation in Ialomița,

and Dolj counties owning a total of . In 2009 Riso Scotti cultivated around with rice, the rest of the land currently being prepared for use. In the same year production amounted to 30,000 metric tons. Around 60% of the production is intended for internal use and 40% is exported to Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland,

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

, Hungary, Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria, Armenia and Moldova. Another important company is ''Padova Agricultura'' owned by the Italian company Gruppo Roncato which owns cultivated with rice in Brăila County. In 2009 the company produced 36,000 metric tons of rice which was mainly exported to Italy and Turkey but also delivered to Riso Scotti. The third largest producer of rice in Romania is also an Italian company, ''Beg Agricultura'' which owned of cultivated rice in Olt County and had a harvest of 6,500 metric tons in 2009.

References

{{Rice production Agriculture in Romania Romania