Wioletta Wrzaszcz

Agriculture is one of the most important sectors that build the bioeconomy, especially the model of sustainable agriculture. Different benefits are the attributes of this model, e.g., production (allowing to ensure food security), economic (pertaining to income level), environmental (approaching to reduce the pressure of agriculture on the natural environment), as well as social ones (seeking to maintain the vitality of rural areas, ensuring safe food; Zegar, 2005). An important part is the rational use of agricultural production space to maintain the production potential of soil (Krasowicz, 2005). The concept of sustainable development of agriculture is not uniformly understood and defined. The discourse is designated by two lines of thinking. The first takes as a basis the relation between the spheres i.e., a certain equilibrium. The second takes into consideration the meeting of certain criteria—critical thresholds of sustainability in the individual spheres (Zegar, 2005). Additionally, sustainable agriculture should be considered at the different levels of vertical order, paying particular attention to microeconomic level of sustainability—the farm level (Wrzaszcz & Zegar, 2016). Economic objectives are the most important in the case of farms, while others—social and environmental goals—should be achieved simultaneously, according to sustainability theory. Taking into consideration limited environmental resources, the superiority of this system should be the benchmark for the social and economic activity of farmers. The main environmental requirement of farmers’ activity is to maintain soil productive potential, which is one of the basic elements of the natural environment used in agriculture. The basic principles for conducting agricultural production with respect for natural resources are suitable crop rotation and plant fertilization, adapted to local environmental conditions. Crop rotation—which can be defined as a rational sequence of cultivated plants, considering their diverse needs concerning position in crop rotation—comprises the canon of traditional agrotechnics (Manteuffel, 1984, p. 310). Proper crop rotation and fertilization should ensure a positive balance of soil organic matter, recognized as the basic principles of proper management in agriculture (Kuś, Krasowicz, & Kopiński, 2008, p. 13). Positive balance is the necessary condition for ensuring appropriate productivity of cultivated crops. Organic matter, and its conversion into humus, plays the main role in creating and maintaining soil fertility at a high level, i.e., favorable for plant growth and yields, and their physical, chemical, and biological properties. Humus content in the soil leads to obtaining crops of high quality and increasing yield level. The above issues point to the important role of sustainable agriculture, including agricultural land, in the creation of the bioeconomy. Development of the bioeconomy is not possible without the implementation of sustainable agriculture, due to the need to provide agricultural biomass, produced in accordance with respect for natural resources and processes. Development of this model of agriculture comes in other sectors of the bioeconomy, at least in terms of renewable energy generation and distribution or the support of tourism in rural areas. The concept of the bioeconomy means an extensive strategy and action plan for the sustainable use of renewable biological resources in different areas of the economy. Maintaining natural resources and their rational use is leading to this concept (Adamowicz, 2016). In accordance with the guidelines, the bioeconomy should Wioletta Wrzaszcz Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics—National Research Institute In the year 2012, the European Commission adopted the strategic document underlining the need for bioeconomy development, which requires the implementation of sustainable agriculture. In view of the above, the need for defining the direction of farm development arises, whether it is sustainable or industrial development. Research conducted on the basis of Polish public statistics from 2005, 2007, and 2016 indicated some progress in farms’ sustainable development. Data analysis indicated that there is still a need to support farms in order to stimulate their environmental organization and desirable agricultural practice implementation.

Measuring the level of agriculture sustainability is very complex. Different proposals are presented and discussed, and still, there is no generally accepted measures of the sustainability of agriculture. This problem also concerns economic sustainability of agriculture. Sustainability of agricultural holdings determines the sustainability of agriculture, although these notions are not identical. The purpose of the article is to present proposals for measuring the economic sustainability of agricultural holdings on the basis of Agricultural Census 2010 data. This article sets the following indicators of the economic sustainability: land productivity, labour profitability, farms market activity and sources of households’ income and maintenance. The analysis concerns individual agricultural holdings with at least 1 ha of agricultural land and it is also carried out in four area groups.

The aim of the paper is to present the essence of natural fertilizers in the form of RENURE, taking into account environmental and production-economic issues. For several decades, international programs and strategies for sustainable development have been implemented. The need to achieve various objectives in business activity is also underlined by the European Green Deal strategy, introduced at the end of 2019. An important element of it is the correct management of natural fertilizers, both for environmental and production and economic reasons. The case of the Netherlands was presented, where pilot studies on the conversion of manure into RENURE were introduced. The study used literature sources and selected, recent statistics from Eurostat resources (2019, 2020). Agriculture in EU countries in the context of production and possibilities of using natural fertilizers is illustrated. Analysis of statistical data has shown that agriculture in the EU is highly diversified in terms of ...

The aim of the paper is to indicate the most important challenges for agriculture in Poland in the context of the implementation of the European Green Deal and the Polish Strategic Plan for the Common Agricultural Policy for the years 2023-2027. The primary tool used in the study was a comparative analysis of legal EU and Polish documents. This comparison was supplemented by an analysis of statistical data on agriculture in Poland, mainly covering 2005-2020, obtained from the Agricultural Census 2020, Statistics Poland, the National Centre for Emissions Management, the Agricultural and Food Commercial Quality Inspection and the European Medicines Agency. The results show that the Polish national targets for 2030 are significantly lower than the European ones but have been set, taking into account the feasibility of their implementation, which means that meeting each of the primary national targets in the agricultural sector will be very challenging.

Organic system of agricultural production is particularly important in the context of agriculture sustainability. Taking into consideration sustainability premises, agricultural sector should deliver environmental, social and economic profits. One of the most important form of agriculture in this context is organic production. In 2019, the European strategy of Green Deal underlined the need of further and faster development of organic farms in the EU. The purpose of the paper is establishing current tendencies, as well as perspectives of organic farming development, including its market environment in the EU. The accent was focused on Poland`s situation and experiences. The period of the analysis covered the years 2012-2020. The data used in the research came from national institution Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection, Statistics Poland reports and papers, as well as database of Eurostat. Indicator analysis methods were used and trends were established. The results of the stu...

The idea of sustainable development, extended at the end of 20th century, takes the form of a strategic concept in the field of socio-economic development in many countries and their regional groupings. It is also being promoted by international organizations, considering the United Nations and NGOs. The concept usually involves three aspects, namely environmental, economic and social, in formulating corresponding goals and ways of achieving them. The implementation of this concept is a huge challenge due to the nature of market mechanism. This concept also applies to agriculture, which is a complex system. Sustainable agriculture should be considered at the different levels of vertical order – in particular at the level of agricultural holdings (microeconomic level), state (macroeconomic level) and global (planetary level). The order determines the hierarchy of objectives for agriculture sustainable development and measures to achieve them. Economic objectives are the most importan...

The aim of European Green Deal (EGD) is to implement a pro-environmental and pro-climate policy, which should be translated into economic practice. EGD concerns agriculture, including organic, hence the importance of recognizing the current path of development of this management system and future prospects. The aim of this paper is illustration of current challenges in organic farming and its environment in Poland, taking into account European strategic and market goals. The population of organic farms and other organic entities operating in this segment were analyzed. The period covered 2004-2020, and data of Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection and Statistics Poland. Indicator analysis methods were used and trends were established. A comparison of the statistics for 2020 and 2004 showed the development of organic farming in Poland, taking into account the farms’ number and the agricultural land in organic system. The period 2004-2020 was not homogeneous, and the last years can...

In the paper we provide an analysis of the potential of agricultural holdings for biomass production, an assessment of the level of farm sustainability and a description of the farming conditions of agricultural holdings depending on the degree of natural valuation of a given area. The approach makes it possible to assess the level of sustainability of farms, also in the context of their potential and taking into account the quality of the production space and its importance for increasing biodiversity. We use public and unpublished data of Statistics Poland (2005, 2007, 2016) as well as data on farms keeping accounts for the Polish FADN in 2016–2018. The paper shows that although concentration processes are progressing, farm productivity is increasing, but this is linked to specialisation, leading to efficient management of labour and land resources. Nevertheless, the decreasing number of farms with proper winter vegetation cover and optimal balances was confirmed. The farming cond...

Food systems and sustainable food systems. Non-industrial sustainable intensification of agriculture. Agriculture production potential and farms' environmental sustainability – regional convergence or divergence?Sustainability of family farms by production and economic type in 2005 and 2016.

Agricultural holdings have a very important role for the sustainable socio-economic development. Contemporary, the farms` activity is mainly determined by the market mechanism. Market imposes rules on agricultural holdings` functioning, on both the type and the scale of agricultural activities, agricultural production mode, as well as the sale conditions. The market mechanism forces the agricultural holdings` orientation on the economic objective achievement, aside from the agricultural production externalities. Those externalities are not the market transaction subject and are not a part of farmers` economic account. Agricultural production externalities, however, are the subject of increasing society` interests. Those interests particularly relate to natural environment protection and food supply. Referring to the above, there is a challenge to meet the requirements of a market, as well society. In order to meet the various agricultural holdings` challenges, there is a need to tak...

Presently, the sustainable development of agriculture is the priority for nations, organizations and generally for the world. Different aspects are considered in the issue of sustainability of agriculture. In agriculture sustainability evaluation, holistic approach is needed, that determine the selection of different indicators and important farms` group for the assessment. Environmentally sustainable agriculture is the state, that should be characterized by proper farms’ organization, as well as biodiversity conservation. Taking into account the need of sustainability, the its evaluation gaining the importance. The aim of the paper is to present the scope of progress in environmental agriculture sustainability in Poland. Using public statistics for 2005, 2007 and 2016 of Statistics Poland and data about areas with high nature value farmlands (HNVfs), the direction in which tends Polish agriculture was indicated, putting particular attention to agriculture production organization an...

The assessment of the economic efficiency of selected forms of environmental-friendly farming (taking account of their area) was the purpose of the research. The study included 1487,6 thous. individual holdings. There were presented more important indicators of economic efficiency and sources of revenues of farming families. The results of the analysis proved the importance of the agricultural area for the functioning and development of sustainable forms of agriculture. The larger area, the easier is to reconcile the ecological and economic objectives. The economic effects of the area increase of the selected groups of holdings are not homogeneous. Sustainable and ecological farm stand out the best economic structure in comparison to others.

This paper presents the issue of productivity and profitability of agricultural holdings. It particularly focuses on selected sustainable farms’ groups that provide environmental benefits. The following groups of farms were analysed: ecological, agri-environmental, Norfolk and sustainable. Farms specialised in cereal production were also the subject of analysis – the contrasting group to sustainable ones. The research was conducted using agricultural accountancy data – FADN 2012. The purpose of this paper is to present the economic efficiency of selected farms’ groups characterised by different influence on the natural environment.

The concept of research on socially sustainable agriculture. Features of sustainable agriculture. Sustainability of private farms in the light of selected criteria. Subsistence agricultural holdings and the sustainable development of agriculture. Sustainable farms in the light of the FADN data. Description of organic holdings in Poland.

The aim of the article was to determine the impact of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) on the economics of agricultural holdings, taking into account their potential impact on the natural environment. The subject of the analysis were individual holdings covered by the FADN in the years 2004-2013. There are organic farms, with mixed production and specialized in livestock production, which has been evaluated in terms of productivity and profitability of the production factors, as well as the subsidies absorption. Results have indicated the growing importance of the CAP instruments in shaping the farms` economic results, particularly those providing services for the environment.

Agricultural policy in the European Union, at the Community level, as well as Member Countries, increasingly emphasize the issue of sustainable development of agriculture. This is a response to the multiplying threats to the environment. Referring to this problem, it was justified to estimate the level of agricultural holdings sustainability (on the basis of FADN data) and recognize its determinants. There was applied multidimensional statistical analysis and logistic regression. The research indicated that identification of environmentally friendly agriculture with low profit production is ungrounded.

WRZASZCZ, W., J. S. ZEGAR and K. PRANDECKI, 2015. Soil fertility and economic efficiency – the case of Polish agriculture. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 21: 467-478 The basis of sustainable agriculture is to maintain a constant, highest possible level of soil fertility, which is one of the main conditions for long-term increasing of agricultural productivity. This condition can be achieved through the use of appropriate agricultural practices, which not only provide ecosystem services, but also are the crucial factor of biodiversity conservation. Agriculture productivity is a multidimensional issue that creates premises to analysis from both environmental and economic efficiency perspective. The purpose of this article is to assess organisation and efficiency of farms in terms of production and economics, depending on the balance of soil organic matter and agricultural area of the farms. The study covered 1281.9 thousand Polish individual farms with an area of at least 1 ha of agricultural ...

This paper aims to explore the importance of the direct-payments scheme as a tool for supporting the sustainable development of agriculture in Poland, and to assess the effects of the 2015 Common Agricultural Policy reform in this context. In particular, the study attempts to investigate the impact of different fund-allocation criteria on the regional distribution of direct payments. The research employs a simulation method in the form of variant analysis (the “what if” model)—a mathematical method with elements of statistical description, based on the complete dataset. For the purposes of one of the variants, a multi-criteria composite indicator was constructed, including stimulants and destimulants of the level of environmental sustainability of agricultural plant production. The analysis was conducted at the NUTS 2 level (voivodeships). The timeframe of the study covered the period 2010–2019. The data published by Statistics Poland and the Agency for the Restructuring and Moderni...

JEL codes: Q12, Q18, Q58, Q01 Abstrakt. Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie zmian organizacyjnych, które zaszły w gospodarstwach rolnych w Polsce po wprowadzeniu tzw. wymogu zazielenienia, związanego z pozyskaniem płatności bezpośrednich. Przedmiotem analizy były gospodarstwa indywidualne objęte polskim FADN w latach 2014-2015. Wyniki badań wskazały na dostosowanie się gospodarstw rolnych do nowych wymogów warunkujących pełne wsparcie bezpośrednie.