Farmer rationality and the adoption of greening practices in Poland

Abstract

Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform in the European Union introduced a new element: greening. The aim of greening is to support the environment and create non-productive value in agriculture. The main element of greening is the Ecological Focus Area (EFA) meaning that a portion of farmland area has to be designed for environmental purposes. This article consists of an evaluatation of greening and its elements in the first year CAP reform has come into force. Surveys were used as a tool to gather information about farm characteristics, ways to meet greening requirements as well as the opinions of farmers as to changes in direct subsidies and greening obligations. The research was conducted in 2015 directly interviewing 290 farmers from the whole of Poland. The farmers interviewed lived in different parts of the country and had different size farms. Data was prepared with the use of spreadsheets and were analysed using the R statistical program and the "gmodel" and "vcd" statistical packages were used during the calculations. Polish farmers are against greening. Greening does not significantly change the way farmers run their farms. They choose the cheapest options of EFA which are usually not the best for the environment. Furthermore, farmers have to bear the cost of introducing the new elements themselves. Despite a high number of environmental and agricultural advantages offered by new farming methods, crop rotation and after-crop sowing duty, CAP reform is assessed in a negative light. As a result of negative opinions held by farmers due to the lack of subsidies, farmers may not continue greening practices in the future.

Pro-environmental actions of agricultural farms - example of holdings from the Wielkopolska region

“…Therefore, surveys are undertaken to supplement the information from the FADN. In Poland, such surveys have recently been conducted by Piwowar (2020), Baum and Bieńkowski (2020), Syp and Osuch (2019), Sulewski and Kłoczko-Gajewska (2018), Śmiglak-Krajewska (2018 or Świtek and Sawińska (2017). The results presented in this paper are in line with this research trend.…”

Agricultural Practice in Poland Before and After Mandatory IPM Implementation by the European Union

“…Currently, IPM is the main paradigm in plant production approved by scientists, policymakers, international development agencies [6] and public opinion [7]. In recent years, new regulations in Europe have forced farmers to use methods other than chemical protection [8] that are more environmentally friendly [9,10].…”

Can Animals Be the Key to the Development of Tourism: A Case Study of Livestock in Agritourism

“…The native breeds of livestock, as well as native varieties of crops, are part of the national heritage [79]. The existence of such breeds proves the ability to carry out husbandry work aimed at creating animals that are best adapted to local environmental conditions (climate, fodder), which can demonstrate, frequently in difficult conditions, longevity, good parameters of reproductive traits, and production of food raw materials (meat, milk, eggs) or clothing raw materials (wool, leather) of high utility values [94][95][96]. Keeping native animal breeds is especially valuable in agritourism due to their adaptation to local environmental conditions, disease resistance, health, and low feed requirements [97].…”