Romanian agricultural management is the most centralized in Eastern Europe. Production expanded favorably during the seventies, although rising costs and disappointing returns on investment held back net output. Some movement toward introducing market forces occurred in 1979 following the introduction of the New Economic Mechanism. This movement was overshadowed, however, by the strong centralist bias of the NEM. Economic crisis in the early eighties---caused by large debt service requirements and poor domestic performance--brought new attempts at management reform. Nonetheless, the result was more central control of agriculture, restrictive policies for the private sector, and a decline in domestic consumption. Little positive impact is expected, and continued disappointing performance economywide should keep farm imports depressed