Development of crop production in the Slovakia and Czechia after the year 2004 in comparison with V4 countries

Abstract

The V4 countries went through a transformation of their entire economies, including the agricultural sector, in the 1990s. Each of these countries approached the transformation of agriculture differently, but later the V4 countries’ approach to agricultural development was unified by the EU's common agricultural policy. The aim of the paper was to compare the development of the production (sown area and hectare yield) of selected most commonly cultivated crops in Slovak and Czech regions (NUTS 3) in the period between 2004 and 2017. The development of production in these two countries was also evaluated against the trends of V4 countries. Based on these analyses, common and specific agriculture development trends in V4 countries were revealed. A chronological average was used to evaluate the average values of the monitored indicators in the period from 2004 to 2017 in Slovak and Czech regions. To express the development of the given indicators between 2004 and 2017, the change index was used and visualised cartographically. Regression analysis was used to show the development trends of agricultural production in the V4 countries. In general, the agricultural sectors in the V4 countries show similar characteristics with similar trends, and the average hectare yield has a modest growing trend. In terms of the structure of the cultivated plants, the size of the cultivated areas, the volume of production and the average hectare yields, there have been considerable changes to crop farming in Slovak and Czech regions. The study showed that the changes in the agrarian sector after the year 2004 conditioned by the entry of Czechia and Slovakia into the European Union were reflected in a decrease in crop production and an increase in regional disparities. From the point of view of the production indicator expressing the hectare yield of crops, Czechia achieves better indicator values than does Slovakia.

Development Trends in the Crop Production in Slovakia after Accession to the European Union—Case Study, Slovakia

“…In the coming years, specialized crop production should be increasingly promoted, i.e., the production of fruit, grapes, vegetables, legumes and potatoes. The government aid flowing into this sector would increase Slovakia's self-sufficiency in food economics, and would also contribute to increasing employment in rural areas of Slovakia [2]. Slovakia is currently self-sufficient in terms of food to a level of approximately 40%.…”

“…The problems of finding a foothold on domestic and foreign markets and the economic crisis have been reflected in a decline in the number of farms. In the 2 of 18 market agrarian space, stronger and larger enterprises, which appear to be more stable, are asserting themselves [1,2]. Since the accession of the Slovak Republic to the EU, agriculture has not yet experienced a significant change in orientation towards the efficient use of domestic production and the growth of competitiveness in order to succeed in the liberalized European market [3].…”

Changes in the Structure of Crop Production in Slovakia after 2004 Using an Example of Selected Crops

“…For the production of these crops, only simple technologies are necessary coupled with low labor costs. Their production often has historical roots and contexts linked to a certain structure of production relationships and further processing infrastructure [1].…”

Stimulating Poverty Alleviation by Developing Tourism in Marginalised Roma Communities: A Case Study of the Central Spiš Region (Slovakia)

“…The 'poverty agenda' has been the focus of practitioners for decades [3]. Initially, the main objective of tourism development was regional economic growth, which supported inherently disparate development-strengthening the centres and weakening the periphery [4][5][6][7][8]. Poverty reduction was implicitly perceived as a positive externality from tourism in the areas where it developed [9,10].…”