The emergence of some critical incidents of economic, biological type-crises, armed conflicts, natural cataclysms can affect significantly the activity of the human society. The article aims at analyzing the behavior of the Romanian consumer in the context of COVID-19 emergence. The performed research has highlighted the particularities of the emergence of this sanitary crisis at the local economy level. Although the Romanian population's infection degree has been more reduced as compared to the Western states, the strict prevention measures imposed by the authorities have determined a model of behavior of the consumer close to the one of other states affected by the infection with the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV2. The market studies performed by specialized companies have shown that imposing home isolation conditions, due to the emergency state, has significantly reduced the social activities of the Romanian consumer, the actions being oriented mainly towards covering the basic necessities. The health of the consumers (purchase of medicines or visit to the physician), procuring food or financial activities at the banking units are the main motivations for leaving the residence. By comparison, the sports activities or the visits for supporting family members have the lowest weight. A segment of consumers, advocate of traditional commerce, has been forced to appeal to modern trade methods based on online shopping, and the specialists' estimations provide the maintenance of the trade behavior. Companies will have to focus on understanding the consumer's needs and to adapt their product offer and distribution system so that to reduce the new consumption limits and to facilitate the sales act. The main orientation during the crisis towards the local products can represent an opportunity for the Romanian companies, but Government support measures are necessary for the Romanian producers. The research results are a novelty, being among the first studies conducted at national level on the complex impact of COVID-19 on the health of the population, the national economy and consumer behaviorh start.

The need for Romanian agriculture development by efficient usage of resources and a rural environment has led to the establishment of agricultural cooperatives. Romania needs strong cooperatives and, in order to achieve this, the involvement of not only the authorities and agricultural producers, but also of each inhabitant from the rural area, is required. In the context of food market saturation with import products, it is necessary to revive the Romanian market in order to supply natural and quality products. A total of 1425 agricultural cooperatives were registered in Romania at the end of 2018, out of which 57% did not submit the Balance Sheet. The research performed within the study proposes the usage of fsQCA analysis in order to assess some conditions considered by us essential for the sustainability of the agricultural cooperatives. These conditions are represented by the initial contribution of the members, by the existence of a central collection space, by the employment of a manager, by the knowledge of the members on the development possibilities, and by the involvement of the members within the cooperative’s activity. The study highlights the fact that the absence of the conditions presented leads to the absence of a sustainable cooperative. We consider the dissolution of the cooperatives pertinent, which has not developed an activity for more than three years from their establishment and the publication on the MADR website of the National Registry of Cooperatives, which will offer a true image on the prosperity and viability of these types of entities.

Agriculture represents an important sector of the Romanian economy, with certain vulnerabilities under the current geo-political context and pedoclimatic changes with a direct impact upon food security at national and European levels. This paper analyzes the possibilities for revitalizing the Romanian agricultural sector, which was affected by the excessive inflation (especially via the price increases of fertilizers and fuels) and drought, both generating significant cereal and agricultural production losses. The current research highlights the main investment options for the managers of 219 Romanian agricultural cooperative companies, including the available financing alternatives. In our view, the investments realized within the agricultural cooperative companies support the creation and increase in value added and reduce specific risks, consolidating the role and status of agricultural producers within the food chain. The research evaluates the Romanian agricultural investment typologies and establishes a model of assessing these investments by correlating the information obtained from the questionnaire distributed. The research methods include analyzing the reference literature, building the database, collecting and processing the questionnaires’ observations, transforming the qualitative data into quantitative ones and modeling them with econometric instruments. The results obtained using the econometric model reveal the main investment directions to be integrating the production chains through economic association forms, including constructing and modernizing the warehouses, processing the primary products and obtaining higher value-added products, identifying various distribution channels, making the most of all available resources and focusing on digitalization, efficiency, circular economy and short supply chains. The study is of interest for the investors and managers of agricultural cooperative companies from Romania and Europe in view of securing sustainable development, enhancing the role of agricultural producers within the food chain and increasing efficiency of the agricultural activity, with a direct impact upon European food security.

The fragmentation of the Agricultural Real Estate in Romania, which is due to the lack of vision regarding the retrocession of the land and to the ineffective measures for reparcelling farmland, manifests by the existence of a record number of about 3422 million farms in Romania, of which about 92% have a utilized agricultural area (UAA) below 5 ha. The Romanian agricultural sector possesses about 30% of the total European farms but contributes only 3% to the total EU agricultural production. The association of local agricultural producers may be an alternative to reparcelling farmland on a short-term basis in order to reduce the fragmentation degree and increase the competitiveness of the national agricultural sector. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, 25 active groups of agricultural producers are registered in the South-East Region in 2018, where these associative entities have been recorded to have a low degree of viability. The paper proposes an analysis on the farmers’ motivation regarding the access to/exit from a form of agricultural association and the identification of some alternatives for increasing the viability of the associative forms in the agricultural sector in the South-East of Romania. In this respect, a study was carried out on a sample of 16 entities that gave up their status of producer groups in the analyzed region in 2011–2018. The Fuzzy Set Quantitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) Qualitative analysis method was applied, which identified the main influence factors that have led to the disappearance of this associative form. We consider this study relevant for drawing attention to the main obstacles that Romanian farmers face in joining an associative form. The study has shown that mainly the factors directly influenced by government policies have led to the withdrawal of a relatively large number of producers from producer groups in the studied region.

Associative forms represent a part of the agricultural producers’ manifestation, with long-term impact on rural development. Considering the current dimension and the cultural-organizational baggage, the authors aim to carry out an impact study on the contribution of agricultural holding companies to rural development. This objective is to be achieved through prospective analysis methods based on a structured questionnaire, which allows for statistical tests of the variables’ frequency and representativeness and econometric modelling of rural development efficiency in relation to independent variables related to the organizational custom and economic outputs of organizations. The results of the study aim at identifying the vulnerabilities that hinder the maximization of the function of the agricultural holding companies (the economic development) and treating these vulnerabilities through some concrete measures according to the modelling results. The study is useful for rural policy makers and trainers in any country in the world.