ORGANIC SWEET POTATO PRODUCTION AND MARKETING IN ROMANIA – A CASE STUDY ON CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Abstract

In Romania, demand for organic food has surged since the pandemic began in the spring of 2020. Healthy growth is expected to continue in the coming years as consumers associate organic foods with good health, nutrition, and wellness. The complex challenge of protecting ecosystems while sustainably feeding the global population has attracted increasing attention in recent years and the need for improving food production and consumption led to the development of this field. The present study represents a comparative economic analysis of the sweet potato crop in a conventional and organic system. Data on production costs (materials, labour, mechanical works) as well as data on the commercialization of production, including preparatory activities for marketing (packaging, marketing conditioning) were taken into account. Following the analysis, cost efficiency proposals are highlighted in order to improve the producer’s economic performance.