YIELD POTENTIAL OF THE WESTERN OLTENIA LANDS FROM THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVE

The agricultural area of the western part of Oltenia (Dolj, Gorj and Mehedinticounties) account for about 1,097,038.27 ha, respectively 61.47% of the total area(1,786,282.01 ha). The limiting natural factors for the agricultural land of the western partof Oltenia are as follows: slope, erosion, waterlogging, soil salinity, and soil texture, lowcontent of organic matter and macronutrients, soil reaction, climate limitations. The studyof land quality (expressed as quality classes), and of the limiting factors of agriculturalyields from the sustainable development point of view, illustrates that in Western Olteniaregion the productive potential is moderate to low, due to the large area belonging to theIIIrd and IVth quality classes. The study of the land distribution according to the qualityclasses showed that only 13.98% of the agricultural land use is located on good qualitylands (IInd class). Yield potential of agricultural land in the study area is generally higher inBăilesti Plain (for the most studied crops) and lower in Blahniţa Plain, while in the rest ofthe territory moderate values have been recorded.