Necessity, Desirability and Importance of Ecological Agriculture in the Context of Medicinal Plants Cultivation

Abstract

In recent years, the ecological farming began to gain an increasingly higher importance, due to the increase of areas cultivated in ecological system and of the number of producers and consumers. This paper aims at presenting in a concise manner the most important considerations about organic farming in the context of medicinal plant cultivation. By choosing as a basic research method the observation and the study of literature, an overview on it will highlight the main aspects regarding the unconventional farming systems, the history and the variants of the ecological farming concept, organic agriculture trends worldwide and in Europe, the state of ecological agriculture in Romania, OA's principles and perspectives of improving life quality by complying with them, the requirements for the organization of an ecological farm, the conversion to an organic farming, labelling of organic products, the quality and marketing of organic products. Also will elaborate an analysis of the determinant conditions of the promotion of ecological medicinal and aromatic plants production, represented by the consumers’ perception, attractiveness and interest. The analysis will require to carry out a sociological study that will involve the survey method. The attitude towards organic production is revealed through questions related to the opinion about medicinal plants from spontaneous or cultivated flora, and also to the consumption preferences in the form of tea, infusions, natural products, cosmetics, packaging and presentation style. The main questions that define the tastes are related to herb consumption rate, the production of medicinal plants by individuals and/or farmers, plant type (ecological culture or spontaneous flora, Romanian or from import). Â