No abstract

The agricultural sector in Poland accounted for 8% of the country's total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2014 [1]. It was the second largest source after the energy sector (81.3%) [1]. From 1988 to 2014 in Poland, GHG emissions from agriculture have decreased by 36%, whereas in the European Union (EU) the decrease has been 24% since 1990 [1-2]. The reduction of GHG emissions from agriculture was a consequence of implementing the following EU policies: Nitrate, Landfill Waste, and Renewable Energy Directives (RED), and the

The paper investigated the patterns of changes in spatial price transmission between pigmeat prices of two post-communist Member States, namely Lithuania and Poland, and five main producing countries in the namely Germany, Denmark, France, Spain, and the Netherlands. This study employed vector autoregression modelling, as well as the Granger causality concept, and focused on changes in price behavior from May 2004 to May 2021. The findings suggest fundamental differences in the short-term price behavior of two post-communist countries. Over the investigated period, Poland strengthened the position in the EU pigmeat market and could be classified as a price leading country for the certain markets. The case of Lithuania demonstrated that countries with lower productivity and the dominant share of pig population on small-scale farms as well as high price level became vulnerable and evolved towards a viable national pig farming structures. Hence, a movement of new Member States towards greater market integration must be linked to the spread of innovations in pig farming or exit of uncompetitive farms. In the case of Lithuania, a promising direction of policy implications is support for the establishment of modern and competitive medium-sized farms, as well as the spread of relevant knowledge and innovations.

A b s t r a c t. The aim of this study was to compare four tools for calculation of nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions under the renewable energy directive. All the tools follow the methodology of the international panel on climate change. The first calculations of N 2 O fluxes were based on the Tier 1 method using the BioGrace tool. The second and the third ones followed the Tier 2 methodology, applying the global nitrous oxide calculator and the Lesschen emission factors, respectively. The last assessment was performed in accordance with the Tier 3 approach by using the denitrification-decomposition model. The N 2 O fluxes were calculated for rapeseed cultivation in a 4-year crop rotation in Poland. The same input data were applied in all methods. The average of N 2 O emissions varied in the range of 1.99-3.78 kg N 2 O ha -1 y -1 , depending on the approach used (Lesschen emission factors > denitrificationdecomposition > global nitrous oxide calculator > BioGrace). This paper illustrates that, at country level, the Lesschen emission factors method worked as well as the denitrification-decomposition model for Poland. The advantage of this approach is the simplicity of collecting the necessary data, in contrast to process-based modelling. Moreover, the Tier 2 method provides mitigation measures similar to the denitrification-decomposition model, related to crop type, climatic conditions, and management practices.K e y w o r d s: BioGrace calculator, denitrification-decomposition model, global nitrous oxide calculator, international panel on climate change-Tier 1, Lesschen emission factors

The objective of this article is to assess farm efficiency and productivity change in specialised large farms located in the region of Mazowsze and Podlasie during the years 2014 − 2016. For this, we used the non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method and Malmquist index. Calculations were performed for three types of large farms classified as: field crop, pig and dairy. The study shows that mean technical efficiency of large field crop, pig and dairy farms amounted to 80, 75 and 70%, respectively. Technical inefficiency of field crop farms come mainly from scale efficiency, while of pig and dairy farms equally from pure technical and scale efficiency. It shows that inefficient management practices had an impact on farm performance. Therefore, in order to increase competitiveness of farms, an improvement of management practices is required. In the studied period the share of farms operating under increasing return was as follows: 67, 72, and 81%, respectively for field crops, pig and dairy farms. The improvement of efficiency of those farms could be achieved by increasing their size. The results indicate that 8% of field crops, 12% of dairy and 16% of large pig farms were operating under decreasing scale efficiency, which means that those farms were operating above the optimal scale. The increase in their efficiency could be achieved through size reduction. In dairy farms the average annual productivity growth of 2% was recorded. In pig farms the productivity reduction of 5.4% was observed. It was the result of a decrease in technological efficiency.