The aspects highlighted in this paper refer to the application of fertilizers and plant protection products to the wheat crop, and their impact on total production, competitiveness in export markets, price optimization as a result of increased harvest quality, and not least row, ensuring farmers’ incomes. The present analysis concerned the areas cultivated with wheat, and the productions achieved in relation to the quantities of fertilizers and protection products used in wheat cultivation, in Romania, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Hungary, Poland and the UK. The analysis highlighted that, the average productions are influenced both by the technology used, by the fertilization and treatments applied, as well as by other synergistic factors that intervene in wheat crops. In countries such as Spain and Italy, the correlation between the amounts of N (nitrogen), P₂O₅ (phosphorus), K₂O (potassium) and the average production of wheat is insignificant, but in Romania and Hungary, there is a strong, direct connection between the number of fertilizers used and the average wheat crop yield. In Romania and Hungary, there is a very significant connection, but the production link average with pesticides is negative, while in Germany, the correlation is direct and quite intense for all types of fertilizers used, while the use of pesticides has a lower influence on average wheat production. In this study, we also applied a multiple regression model; in which the dependent variable was the average yield of wheat per ha and the independent variables were the average quantity of pesticides and fertilizers used. We used the “t Stat” values for each coefficient to determine whether the coefficient is equal to zero; where a high value of “t Stat”, greater than 2; indicates the fact that the coefficient is significantly different from the value zero. The “p-value” for each coefficient indicates the probability that the coefficient has the value zero. A value below the significance level of 5% results in a coefficient significantly different from zero and with an impact on the dependent variable. The use of fertilizers on wheat crops has a synergistic effect as shown by the multiple linear regression analysis which demonstrated a strong direct relationship, particularly with the amount of N, K₂O and P₂O₅ applied.

In recent years, climate change has begun to put pressure on humanity and affect natural and human systems. The aim of this paper is to provide an improved understanding of the state of the literature on the impacts of climate change that can be addressed through measures related to disaster risk reduction, sustainable agricultural practices, and the circular economy. This review also represents a valuable and fundamental reference for both researchers and practitioners in these fields. A total of 74,703 articles (climate change adaptation, 45,030; disaster risk reduction, 5920; sustainable agricultural practices, 7940; circular economy, 15,813) published between 1990 and 2022 were extracted from the Web of Science Core Collection, and the links between these areas were mapped using VOSviewer. There has been an increase in the amount of published research on these four topics since 2007, indicating the increasing involvement of researchers to address these topics, influenced by the concerns of national and international bodies to address these changes.

Throughout this paper, the theoretical concepts from the above areas were combined with the analysis and interpretation of statistical data from the same areas of interest, resulting in a detailed analysis of how the agricultural labour force influences the yields of the five most important crops in the Romanian agricultural sector, namely, wheat, maize, sunflower, rapeseed and soybean. The analysis was carried out within the eight NUTS-listed development regions. A bibliometric analysis of the importance of the academic environment for agricultural labour force research was previously carried out using VOSviewer software. The content of this document aims to determine the impact that the agricultural labour force has on the productivity of the five main crops cultivated in Romania over large areas during the period 2015–2019, where, although the population employed in agriculture has decreased, the yields of these crops have increased due to the technological development process started in agriculture. As of 2019, only 9% of the total Romanian population is represented by the population employed in agriculture and 39.41% and 61.37% of the total area of the country are represented by arable/agricultural area, respectively.

Food loss and waste (FLW) is a primary focus topic related to all human activity. This phenomenon has a great deal of importance due to its effect on the economic and social aspects of human systems. The most integrated approach to food waste analysis is based on the study of FLW alongside the agrifood chain, which has also been performed in previous studies by the authors. This paper presents a modality of determination of food loss and waste effects with an emphasis on consumer segments in agrifood chains in the form of a predictive model based on statistical data collected based on specific methods in Romania. The determination is made comparatively, using two predictive machine learning-based methods and separate instruments (software), in order to establish the best model that fits the collected data structure. In this matter, a Decision Tree Approach (DTA) and a Neural Network Approach (NNA) will be developed, and common methodologies of the approaches will be applied. The results will determine predictive outcomes for a specific food waste (FW) agent (e.g., consumer) based on pattern recognition of the collected data. The results showed relatively high-accuracy predictions, especially for the NN approach, with lower performances using the DTA. The effects of the application of this predictive model will be expected to improve the food loss prevention measures within economic contexts when applied to real-life scenarios.

The paper highlights the evolution of meat consumption in Romania between 2007 and 2022 based on statistical data retrieved from the National Institute of Statistics and also presents a recent 2024 diagnosis on Romanian meat consumption from field data acquired through a questionnaire survey to which 1002 people gave valid answers. For the average annual meat consumption in Romania it was found that it varies depending on the category: for beef it was a decreasing trend, for pork the trend was slightly increasing, and the consumption of mutton and goat meat had an insignificant variation. The central place in terms of meat consumption was occupied by poultry (34.78%), which had the most obvious increase. The questionnaire reflected that meat consumption is influenced by multiple factors including: age, income level, level of education, origin of meat etc. In the context of climate and geopolitical change, there is an increasing emphasis on finding alternatives for meat. The largest share of respondents to the questionnaire said that they will continue to consume meat, the rest preferring substitutes obtained from vegetables. Our results and the analysis, correlations and approaches done within this paper could serve as a basis for meat consumption patterns in Romania and may ground future marketing policies and sustainable development strategies in the food industry.

The transition to a circular economy is a strategic direction of the European Union, and the agri-food sector is essential in this transformation through resource consumption, climate impact and an economic role in the food chain. This study analyses the relationship between the circularity of the economy and the sustainable performance of agri-food systems in the EU-27, using Eurostat data for the period of 2014–2023. Circularity is operationalised through a composite index built from the circularity of materials and resource productivity, aggregated through principal component analysis and complemented by an alternative measure based on the average of the standardised components. Sustainable performance is assessed through economic indicators (value added and output in agriculture, value added in the food industry), environmental indicators (greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture) and, complementary, energy indicators (energy intensity in the food industry), the latter being analysed separately on the available observations. The results do not indicate clear aggregate differences in sustainable performance associated with circularity measured at the macro level over the analysed period, underlining the importance of connecting circularity objectives with interventions and indications specific to the agri-food chain for monitoring and policy design at the EU level.