At the start of the ‘90s the entire agricultural sector was crippled so badly that it sustained some irretrievable huge damage. Needless to say, this period of time was associated with profound socio-economic and political-cultural upheavals. The rapid dismantling of the cooperative-based system and the abandonment of services in the dinosaur-shaped state-run enterprises as a result of the departure of the labour force and the ensuing unfathomable destructions brought about a complete change of the Albanian agriculture landscape. At the moment around 54 % of the population lives in the countryside and the agricultural production accounts for approximately 22.6 % (year 2004) of the GDP (General Domestic Product). According to data made available from Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Protection (MAFCP) there are oscillations in respect of the number of farms from one year to the next. We also have a yearly reduction by 1.6% of the number of farms from 1995 to 2000, followed by a small increase in their numbers until 2003, followed by yet another reduction during the period 2004-2005 reaching the figure of 374, 517 farms in 2005. Agricultural land remains over the stretch of years in nearly the same ratio to the total area of land, according to the statistics of 2005 the agricultural land was roughly 698, 780 ha of land, and constitutes 24 % of the total area of land. With the exception of  the forage area which has increased on average at 3.5 % each year since 1999, the areas under other crops has experienced steady declines, which can be attributed in part to the change of ratios between the two major branches of agricultural production (agriculture and livestock) in favour of the latter. The up-to-now machineries being used is intended to replace the arduous task of the labour force which uses up much power and time through the traditional aggregates. One peculiarity of agricultural machineries in Albania is the structure and quality of equipments that are being limited to classical ones such as plows with 2, 3, and 4 blades, discs, sowing machineries for maize and other cereals. The scale of utilization of agricultural machineries for basic operations of land tillage: plowing, milling, and sowing is relatively low and distributed across such values: Mechanically plowed some 42 % of agricultural land or 79 % of the total area tilled; Mechanically milled 39 % of the agricultural area or 81 % of the total are milled; Mechanically sowed 32 %of agricultural land or 68 % of the total area sowed. The expenditures done on the agricultural machineries (with reference to 2005) represent the lowest figure in terms of costs of production, only 6% of total cost.

agricultural machinery; land; fragmentation; farm; agricultural area

Presentation: oral