Determination of input and output coefficients of cropping systems in the European Community

Abstract

The Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) has explored possible future developments in rural land use within the European Community (EC) to support strategic policy making. Multiple goal linear programming (MGLP) was applied to evaluate different scenarios based on alternative policy views. For the MGLP-model, WRR needed information on agricultural production systems, specifically quantification of inputs like nutrients, water, pesticides, labour and machinery, and outputs like crop yields and environmental pollution. In this paper, the determination of inputs and outputs is described for a number of pre-defined cropping systems at regional level, using results of a land evaluation study for the EC. All cropping systems defined are based on the assumption that the best available production techniques are being used, taking into account that the explorations aim at possible agricultural developments in the next 25 years.