Research on Assessing the Potential for Mountain Certification of Bistra Village, Romania

Abstract

The quality of mountain products represents a competitive advantage for the area of Bistra village, Alba county, Romania. Each mountain product comes as a result from raw materials from mountain areas and in the case of processed products, processing takes place in the mountain region. This paper aims to investigate ways to obtain mountain certification for products from this area, so it could promote agro-food products as a lever for sustainable development, that ensure economic activity. This study randomly analyze several farms in Bistra village in terms of specific indicators for mountain certification. The method used in this study is analyzing in terms of socio-economic, territorial, environmental and economic indicators. After a complex analysis of the specific indicators, results show that the Bistra village, brings together the criteria relating to mountain certification, according to the European Regulations, improving the sustainable development of the area. The main conclusion of this study is that in the current economy it is necessary to create added value for mountain products as part of a narrower niche, in order to preserve high competition and higher prices on the market, so that these farms could face competition over time.

Keywords

• socio-economic indicators
• ecological indicators
• mountain product certification
• rural economy
• sustainable development