Economic and Environmental Aspects of Agriculture in the EU Countries

Abstract

The analysis of the economic efficiency of agriculture has been the subject of numerous studies. An economically efficient agricultural sector is not always environmentally efficient. Agriculture is a large emitter of greenhouse gases. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states that food production and agriculture are responsible for 21–37% of total global CO2 emissions. Due to the comprehensive assessment of the agricultural efficiency, it is worthwhile to apply to its measurement an integrated approach based on economic, energy and environmental aspects. These aspects were the main reasons for undertaking this research. The purpose of the study was to determine the economic, energy and environmental efficiency of agriculture in the EU Member States in 2019. The environmental analyses relate to the period 1990–2019. A total of 26 member states of the European Union (excluding Malta and Luxembourg) were selected for research. The sources of materials were Eurostat and the European Environmental Agency. This study was based on the Data Envelopment Analysis method, and used the DEA model focused on minimizing inputs. The research also adopts energy productivity and greenhouse gas emission efficiency indicators. The DEA model features the following variables: one effect (value of agricultural production) and four inputs (land, labour, use of fertilizers and use of energy). It was found that seven out of the 26 studied EU countries have efficient agriculture. The efficient agriculture group included The Netherlands, Denmark, Greece, Cyprus, the United Kingdom, Italy and Ireland. Based on the DEA method, benchmarks have been defined for countries with inefficient agriculture. On the basis of these benchmarks for inefficient agricultural sectors, it was possible to determine how they could improve efficiency to achieve the same results with fewer inputs. This issue is particularly important in the context of sustainable agricultural development. In the next stage of the research, the analysis of economic and energy efficiency was combined with the analysis of GHG emission efficiency in agriculture. Four groups of countries have been distinguished: eco-efficiency leaders, eco-efficiency followers, environmental slackers, eco-efficiency laggards. The leaders of the classification were The Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Portugal.

Spatial-Temporal Pattern of Agricultural Total Factor Productivity Change (Tfpch) in China and Its Implications for Agricultural Sustainable Development

“…In areas dominated by ecological function protection, they should balance between protection and development, strictly control the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, and actively develop green agriculture and ecological agriculture to improve the market competitiveness of agricultural products [54]. A study [55] in the European Union also attaches great importance to classification and implementing policies according to local conditions.…”

Economic, Energy and Environmental Efficiency of Road Freight Transportation Sector in the EU

“…The DEA models may be categorized based on two criteria: model orientation and type of returns to scale. Depending on the model orientation, a calculation of efficiency is focused on the input minimization (input-oriented model) or the output maximization (output-oriented model) [94]. However, taking into account the type of returns to scale, the following models are highlighted: the CCR model (proposed by Charnes, Cooper and Rhodes [95]) provides for constant returns to scale, and the BCC model provides for a variable return to scale (the name also derives from the authors of the model: Banker, Charnes and Cooper [96]).…”

Developing a Conceptual Partner Matching Framework for Digital Green Innovation of Agricultural High-End Equipment Manufacturing System Toward Agriculture 5.0: A Novel Niche Field Model Combined With Fuzzy VIKOR

“…When agricultural personnel performs farming tasks, the development of equipment technology is more comprehensive and specific, and the production quality and efficiency are in a high state. Especially in Italy and the Netherlands (Domagała, 2021), no matter in the early stage of cultivation, fertilization, and irrigation in the middle stage, picking and harvesting in the later stage, the application of facility agricultural equipment is very frequent (Domagała, 2021), and the completely artificial agricultural production mode is gradually being replaced. For instance, the Axial fan commonly used in Italy and the curtain motor commonly used in Holland and in some developed countries have been equipped with computer data collection system in the greenhouse with a high degree of automation (Białow ąs and Budzyńska, 2022).…”

“…As the most important part of precision agriculture, the R&D of AHEM is becoming more and more important. Agricultural equipment will integrate engineering technology, advanced manufacturing, and intelligent control of the new generation of information and communication (Domagała, 2021;Białow ąs and Budzyńska, 2022). This helps to accelerate the development of high efficiency, intelligent, connection, and green, and become the new demand of modern agricultural development.…”

“…To implement the rural revitalization strategy and promote agricultural and rural modernization, new requirements have been put forward for agricultural mechanization (Long et al, 2022). However, on the whole, the development of AHEM industry is not balanced and sufficient, and some deep-seated contradictions and problems need to be solved (Domagała, 2021;Białow ąs and Budzyńska, 2022). First, the effective supply of agricultural machinery equipment is insufficient.…”