Crop diversity has an important role in sustainable agroecosystems. This study analyzed the crop diversity of agricultural holdings in particular regions (NUTS III) in Slovakia and identified the impact of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) payments on the crop diversity of agricultural holdings. There are regional disparities in crop diversity in Slovakia. The highest crop diversity is typical for the regions with the best soil quality. From the results of econometric models, it was found that some of the CAP payments have an effect on crop diversity, mainly single area payment scheme (SAPS) payments, which had a negative effect, and payments for areas facing natural constraints (ANC) and animal welfare, which were found to have positive effects. It can be concluded that the second pillar of the CAP is able to improve or at least maintain crop diversity in Slovakia. Other important factors found to influence crop diversity are irrigation, total crop area corresponding with the farm size, geographical location including the soil quality, and the legal structure of agricultural holdings. However, the distance of the farm from the city, the education of managers, and membership in farmers’ associations are not important factors for crop diversity in Slovakia.
Agricultural land is a limited natural resource with increasing economic value. This study analyses land rental relationships in Slovakia, including legal rental regulations, and identifies the impact of certain factors, such as the European Union Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) payments, and geographical and economic factors on land rental prices. From the results of econometric models, it was found that certain CAP payments have an effect on rental prices, mainly the single area payment scheme (SAPS), payments for agri-environmental-climate schemes (AECS), and animal welfare, which were found to have positive effects. Other important factors found to influence rental prices are economic indicators (such as total revenue share of total costs, share of revenue from agricultural production in terms of total revenue, share of production costs as a percentage of total costs, wages, and number of employees) and geographical factors (such as region or partial production areas). However, the distance of the farm from the district city (LAU 1) and the share of farmland affected by natural constraints do not considerably affect rental prices in Slovakia. Land consolidation is a statistically significant factor according to the models; however, its impact is almost zero. Knowledge of these factors constitutes important know-how, not only for policy makers but also for the actors operating in the land rental market (e.g., landlords, tenants, experts on land valuation, and real estate agents).
The key element of the European Union (EU) Common Agricultural Policy is sustainable agriculture where the social, economic, and environmental objectives should be fulfilled. This role can fulfill only those agricultural holdings that are effective in the transformation of inputs to outputs, and which do not waste the inputs. Therefore, we analyze the technical efficiency of the agricultural holdings in the Slovak regions, and try to identify the factors that are able to influence the efficiency of agricultural holdings. We can conclude that there are regional disparities in technical efficiency in Slovakia; however, the problem of inefficiency is not typical only for the agricultural holdings in the areas with natural constraints. These regional disparities should be considered when adopting a new political measure to support sustainable agriculture. By the results of econometric models, we find that the agricultural production diversity, the policy of the labor market, and tax policy are the important factors influencing the technical efficiency of the agricultural holdings in Slovakia.
Despite the fact that the agricultural land market in Slovakia has developed in recent years, the overwhelming part of agricultural land in Slovakia is utilized in the form of rent. Only a small part is managed by the landowners themselves. It is therefore necessary to create mechanisms that would make it easier for both beginners and experienced farmers to acquire land as a basic factor of production. It is also important to create conditions enabling agricultural land to continue to serve its purposes and be acquired by persons who are competent for the management of the land and will manage it in compliance with the criteria of good agricultural and environmental practice. Research and analysis of factors affecting the land market and the rental market with agricultural land will also play an important role in these directions. During the evaluated period 2007–2016, we analyzed 244,374 land plots of agricultural land in twelve districts of the Slovak Republic (hereinafter referred also as SR). In the twelve districts of Slovakia, from 2007 to 2016, the average market price agricultural land without a distinction of size categories showed a fluctuating trend. Higher values of the average market price of agricultural land were recorded in the first years of the reviewed period. The highest value of the average market price was recorded in 2008 and amounted to 2.76 €.m−2. During the monitored period, from 2007 to 2011, the average market price had always values exceeding 1 €.m−2. In the reviewed twelve districts of Slovakia during the monitored period, the sold area of agricultural land represented acreage of 100,574 ha. From this acreage, the largest share (58.41%) scored arable land followed by permanent grassland with a share of 40.92%. Orchards marked the 0.43% share of the total acreage and the smallest share (only 0.23%) of the total sales was represented by vineyards.
Small and medium enterprises are mostly considered as key elements of a market economy. Their share is 99% of a total number of all enterprises in Slovakia on average. The aim of the paper is to identify regional disparities of the SMEs development in Slovakia. As methods, we used chain indexes to compare the changes among numbers of small, medium and large enterprises, time series analysis, non-parametric method for investigation of the statistically significant differences and correlation analysis. According to the results we expect increasing numbers of SMEs in Slovakia in the next four years, mainly an increasing of small enterprises. The development of SMEs is very different in particular regions of Slovakia. The number of enterprises in remote rural areas grow less rapidly then the number of those in more accessible rural areas of Slovakia. The strong correlation between SMEs and large enterprises indicates suitable conditions for doing business in rural areas for SMEs as well as for large enterprises. The support policy of SMEs should be more intensive, especially in the rural areas that are not suitable for a large scale business.
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