Integrated assessment of agricultural development in the region: Taxonomic analysis of trends

Abstract

Subject. Agricultural development is a result of many factors, i.e. economic, environmental, social, and food ones, being of decisive importance. The influence of a particular factor is difficult to assess because of its incommensurability and multi-vector impact. Hence, it is advisable to assess their impact on the industry, using the taxonomic analysis. Objectives. The study aims to assess the level of regional agriculture development in the context of economic, environmental, social, and food components. Methods. I apply general scientific (analysis, synthesis, formalization, analogy, comparison) and special (statistical, taxonomic) methods of research. Results. To obtain a comprehensive assessment of agriculture development, I applied the taxonomy method. It allows to systematize and analyze the indicators of industry development, integrating them into a single economic result. Taxonomic indicators of the level of agricultural development, representing the "synthetic" value of uniformly acting all components (economic, environmental, food, and social), helped determine the potential for industry development, identify changes in dynamics, and bottlenecks that most significantly affect changes in the studied indicator. Conclusions. The studies based on the use of taxonomic analysis tools enabled to conclude that the general trend in regional agriculture development is driven by the dominant influence of economic and social components. The pace of development is slowed down by many environmental and food challenges of long-term impact. The identified trends and appropriate solution to environmental, social, and food problems are fundamental priorities in the formation of a new concept for agricultural development in the region.