Livestock numbers increased slowly from 1961 to 1970 but, except for poultry, were generally lower at the end of that period than the peak levels reached for the different types between 1965 and 1968. From 1961 to 1965 the number of cows declined but increased steadily thereafter, without, however, fully regaining the level of 1961.

Development of the livestock economy has been hampered by an inadequate feed base, poor quality of livestock and livestock breeding, and inefficient production methods. Significant improvements in the livestock sector are planned for the 1971-75 period and beyond to 1980.

Although livestock production failed to increase as a proportion of the total farm output, the volume of livestock products, nevertheless, rose significantly during the 1960s (see table 11). Compared with the average annual outputs of individual products attained in the 1962-65 period, increases in average annual production for the years 1966 through 1969 ranged from 18 percent for wool to 24 percent for meat.

Table 10. Production of Major Crops in Romania, Selected Years, 1960-69
(in thousand metric tons)

Crop196019631966196719681969
Grain¹
Wheat3,450 3,799 5,065 5,820 4,848 4,349
Corn5,531 6,023 8,022 6,858 7,105 7,676
Other 845 614 812 834 817 799
Total9,82610,43613,89913,51212,77012,824
Oilseeds
Sunflower 522 506 671 720 730 747
Other 93 54 63 61 41 59
Total 615 560 734 781 771 806
Sugar beets3,399 2,298 4,368 3,830 3,936 3,783
Tobacco 16 40 40 35 33 24
Potatoes3,009 2,692 3,352 3,096 3,707 2,165
Vegetables1,831 1,702 2,177 2,000 2,296 1,963
Fodder Crops
Hay2,105 1,872 3,182 3,223 2,472 3,268
Green feed1,222 2,922 4,749 4,380 3,995 3,885
Silage²4,601 5,296 3,538 2,830 3,728 3,491
Root crops 276 293 371 269 302 420
Total8,20410,38311,84010,70210,49711,064
Fruits 829 1,048 1,390 1,206 1,054 1,677
Grapes 874 937 954 910 1,167 1,189
¹ Grain production in 1971 was unofficially reported to have reached about 14.5 million metric tons.
² Roughly 90 percent corn.
Source: Adapted from Anuarul Statistic al Republicii Socialiste Romania, 1970 (Statistical Yearbook of the Socialist Republic of Romania, 1970), Bucharest, 1970, pp. 312-315.

Table 11. Output of Livestock Products in Romania,
Selected Years 1960-69

Meat¹Milk²Eggs³Wool⁴
1960 969 856,4722,35521,850
19651,116 859,0612,63025,410
19661,265 987,5312,81426,072
19671,3561,089,3203,01128,626
19681,2971,012,6283,11330,583
19691,271 992,7623,31530,752
¹ Thousand metric tons live weight.
² Cow, goat, and buffalo in thousand gallons.
³ In millions.
⁴ In metric tons.
Source: Adapted from Anuarul Statistic al Republicii Socialiste Romania, 1970 (Statistical Yearbook of the Socialist Republic of Romania, 1970), Bucharest, 1970, pp. 430-431.

Data on the contribution of the different types of farms to the total farm output are lacking, but detailed figures are available for individual products. The most noteworthy aspect of these data is the light that they shed on the importance of the collective farmers' personal plots and of the private sector in the production of the higher valued farm products. On their small personal plots, the collective farmers in 1969 produced roughly one-third of the wool, vegetables, and potatoes; two-fifths of the meat, milk, and fruit; and three-fifths of the eggs (see table 12). Together with the small number of private farms, they accounted for 35 to 80 percent of the output of these items. Foreign observers have interpreted this phenomenon as clear evidence of the inadequacy of incentives for work on state and collective farms.

Exports

Substantial quantities of farm products have been exported in raw and processed form. In the 1965-69 period exports of grain, fruits, vegetables, and eggs ranged from 10 to 13 percent of output. Exports of wool reached almost two-thirds of the total production volume. A wide range of other vegetable and livestock products were also exported, including pulses; sugar; sunflower seeds and oil; live cattle; fresh, frozen, and canned meat; butter; wine; and tobacco (see ch. 14).