The family of clusters focused on organic products, signed today, July 31, 2020, at Bârnova City Hall, an agreement to create the consortium of clusters, specialized in the field of organic agriculture and processing of certified organic products.
Thus, the clusters: Bio Danubius, created in 2014, of organic grain producers from the Danube Delta area; Bio Concept Prahova Valley, created in 2017, consisting of the producers of ecological products from the Prahova Valley area; BioNEst, consisting of the producers of ecological products from Moldova and Bio Oltenia, consisting of the producers from the south-western part of the country, agreed to develop a national cooperation to manage the promotion and development of this field in which Romania has an extremely high potential of intelligent specialization.
The consortium is coordinated by INTER-BIO, Association of organic product chains in Romania, an umbrella body in the field, affiliated to IFOAM, the global movement of organic agriculture, as well as to the European IFOAM-EU movement. The secretariat of the consortium will be organized at USH Pro Business, where the INTER – BIO secretariat is located.
The consortium aims, together with the INTER-BIO Association, to contribute to the development of organic product chains in Romania and the development of ecological culture and education at national level, to raise public awareness of the benefits for this type of human activity, to increase the innovation capacity and smart specialization in the field, the help with the development of a coherent and effective policy at national level, aligned with the programs and objectives of the European Union.
“It is an important moment in consolidating the ecological movement in Romania, which will allow us to support the needs of this field, too much neglected over time by the Romanian authorities. Let’s not forget that only 2% of Romania’s agricultural area is ecologically certified and that we are behind the EU ranking in terms of standards in the field. By joining the efforts of the consortium and of INTER – BIO Association, we will be stronger at national and European level. We want all the development regions of Romania, to specialize intelligently in this field, because this will give us the guarantee that the future generations will be grateful to us”, said the President of INTER – BIO, Associate professor. Dr. Costin Lianu and General Director of USH Pro Business.
“The beekeepers from Moldova are aware of the great potential of organic beekeeping in Romania. Moldova, like the rest of the regions in Romania, has a gold mine – biodiversity and spontaneous flora, forests – a huge treasure of human health. We want the consortium to strengthen the beekeeping products chain, to connect it to value chains of other producers, for example the fruit chains and to develop private standards, that will allow us to continue the great traditions of Romanian beekeeping and organic farming”, said Cătălin Maxim , President of the BioNEst Cluster.
“Prahova Valley has a huge potential to determine the change of ecological consumption in Romania. It is the place where we can successfully combine ecological consumption with ecological tourism. Our cluster is deeply committed to changing the mentality of the young generation towards the consumption of ecological products”, said Professor. Dr. Irina Gabriela Rădulescu, representative of the Bio Concept Prahova Valley cluster.
We support the efforts of Oltenia producers with the conversion and for the adoption of ecological standards. We are a young cluster that wants to contribute to the development of a collaborative platform at national level, to exchange experience in the field and to make joint projects. We want a greater involvement of the Local Action Groups and the Regional Development Agencies in the development of the ecological field. We are also active in promoting this field at the SUERD level, said Valentin Mitrică, President of Bio Oltenia cluster.
“It is an honour for Bârnova City Hall to host a national and international event. Our commune is open to future organization of events dedicated to the activity of promoting ecological products”, said the Mayor of Bârnova commune.
“As a local producer of organic honey “Taina Vie”, we welcome the creation of this consortium, as the basis for the development of organic beekeeping. The Taina Vie brand relies on a dynamic consumer model, a consumer that loves the outdoor movement of ecological tourism. For this reason, our vision is to combine organic bee products “Taina Vie” with guided tours Jooyridez, with electrically assisted bicycles. We are grateful to the Romanian-Swiss Export Support Program, through which we manage to develop our innovation projects. In the future, we intend to organize the visit of the Swiss Ambassador to our community in Bârnova”, said Oana Iliescu, Manager of Taina Vie and member of BioNEst Cluster.