Exploitation of Agricultural Land in the Czech Republic and EU Countries

Abstract

The primary objective of the paper is to assess the extent and exploitation of agricultural land in the CR and EU countries based on selected macro-socioeconomic indicators in order to determine the position of the CR and future desirable exploitation, protection and stabilisation of agricultural land in the CR. The following methods will be employed in order to meet the objective: (1) The Coefficient of Geographical Association (CGA) and my own modified coefficients of association reflecting the impact of exploitation of agricultural land on indicators of the country’s economic level. (2) Comparison (shrinkage of agricultural land, workforce in agriculture and market price of agricultural land in selected countries). (3) The Coefficient of Ecological Stability to assess the extent of stable and unstable areas in EU-27 countries. The following data are used for calculations: Eurostat (2009, 2015), World Bank and FAOSTAT (1993-2014). The extent of agricultural land in the CR (2014/1993) has been decreasing more slowly than in the detailed comparison countries (5 countries with the lowest CGA). The price of the agricultural land (2014) is lower than in France, Germany and Poland; nevertheless, the actual price rates are not as contrasting against these countries if purchase parity is considered. The Coefficient of Ecological Stability ranks the Czech Republic in the second half of the list of EU-27 countries (22nd place). While the ecological stability of land has decreased slightly in Germany and France (2009-2015), an improvement has occurred in the CR.