From the “rain-fed triad” to “Europe’s orchard”: the dependence of Spanish agricultural production on irrigation and pollination

The exponential increase of ecosystem utilization has instigated a serious conflict between ecosystem services and residents' needs. The Belt and Road Initiative has greatly influenced Laotian production and living, and the scientific assessment of the consumption of ecosystem services in Laos is important for exploring residents' influence on the ecosystem. Based on data for the Laotian consumption of agricultural products, fruits and livestock products during 1961–2013, normalized by either harvest index or feed conversion ratio, this study draws three main conclusions. 1) Ecosystem service consumption in Laos is centered on the consumption of farmland, forestry and grassland ecosystem services, which account for over 80%, over 10% and under 2%, showing downward, upward and constant trends, respectively. The consumption of these ecosystem services shows a trend of increasing first, then fluctuating, and finally increasing. 2) The consumption of ecosystem services in Laos was characterized by the mode of “dominance of consumption of the farmland ecosystem services” from 1961 to 2008, and the mode of “balanced development of consumption of farmland, forest and grassland ecosystem services” from 2008 to 2013, with a trend of transformation from the former into the latter. 3) The formation and change in the consumption mode of Laotian ecosystem services have been affected by both supply and trade. Laos developed agriculture mainly during the period from 1961 to 2008, forming the mode of “dominance of consumption of the farmland ecosystem services”. This development benefited from the enriched varieties of imports as well as the increased value of trade and import volume. However, the consumption of ecosystem services in Laos after 2008 changed from the mode of “dominance of consumption of the farmland ecosystem services” to one of “balanced development of consumption of farmland, forest and grassland ecosystem services”. This study provides an empirical reference for research on the consumption of ecosystem services.

A framework for reconciling data in U.S. notifications of domestic support to the World Trade Organization (WTO) with data from numerous U.S. sources is presented. The framework also allows projections of possible data in the future U.S. notifications. A country’s calculation of the value of production (VOP) for individual agricultural products and the total value of production are important for the analysis of domestic support constraints under the WTO Agreement on Agriculture and in the Doha negotiations. The framework consists of 65 linked spreadsheets, grouped into 54 data and 11 result tables. Information flows from the data tables to the result tables based on procedures deduced from the analysis of U.S. notifications. The results suggest that the U.S. total value of agricultural production for WTO notifications may increase by 65 percent between 2003 and 2018. As a result, de minimis allowances could increase to US$36 billion by 2018. The VOP of corn would average US$48 billion from 2009 to 2018, making corn the main component of the total value of U.S. agricultural production. The framework was also able to detect several anomalies in the VOP calculations in existing U.S. WTO notifications, confirming that it is a good tool for analyzing these notifications in the context of existing and possible future WTO rules.

Vegetable-growing is an important agricultural production trend in the Łódzkie Voivodeship. Its significance to the economy is emphasized in the voivodeship strategic documents, in which vegetable-growing is mentioned as one of the regional assets. Areas of its occurrence have been considered to present development potential. Vegetable cultivation in the Łódzkie Voivodeship occupies a relatively large area compared to the other regions. In years 2004–2016 the Łódzkie Voivodeship took the fourth place in terms of the area of vegetable cultivation and third place regarding share of vegetables in the sown area. Analyzed had the third largest share of vegetables in the value of total and market agricultural production. In the years 2004–2016, both the area of vegetable cultivation and the size of harvest in the Łódzkie Voivodeship decreased. The area of soil-grown vegetables cultivation decreased at an average rate of 2.9% per annum, while the size of crops decreased at an average rate of 1.0% a year. Despite the decline in the area of vegetable cultivation and the size of harvest, vegetable-growing remained an important part of the regional agricultural economy. In the analyzed period, vegetables accounted for 9.7% of the total value and 11.8% of the market value of agricultural production. Their share in the value of total and market production of agriculture, in contrast to the area and harvest, increased. The average growth rate of the share of vegetables in the value of total agricultural production was 2.9% per annum. The average growth rate of vegetables share in the value of market production was 2.1% per annum. In terms of participating in the value of total plant production, vegetables took the second place in Poland. Considering the share in the value of market production, vegetables were ranked first. The region’s vegetable growing area provides economic grounds for the functioning of the vegetable and fruit-vegetable processing industry for enterprises operating both in the Łódzkie Voivodeship and in the neighboring regions.

The study of the factors affecting the agricultural production of the most important crops under study, whether economic or environmental variables and then to identify the fluctuation of agricultural production of the most important strategic crops, whose production is affected by climate variability, where the problem of the study was the negative impact of the phenomenon of climate change and environmental pollution on agricultural production, especially In light of contemporary environmental and economic variables. The objective of the research was to identify the most important environmental and economic factors responsible for bringing about changes in agricultural production. Reviewing the most important productive activities constituting plant production in the Arab Republic of Egypt and the importance of each activity for the average monetary value of both agricultural and plant production during the period (2013-2017). Field crops were ranked first with an average value of LE 107.15 billion representing about 38.34% of the total average value of agricultural production, representing about 65.3% of the value of plant production during the period (2013-2017). The second, where the average value of about 30.51 billion LE, representing about 30.51% of the total average value of agricultural production and represents about 18.9% of the average value of plant production. The most important factors affecting Egyptian wheat production during the period (2003-2017) are the cultivated area of wheat crop, average minimum temperature and average bone temperature. The model showed a direct correlation between the amount of wheat production and the cultivated area of the wheat crop. Results An increase of 90% in total wheat production by increasing the cultivated area of wheat by 10%. The model also showed a positive correlation between the quantity of wheat production and the average temperature of the smallest, where the results show an increase in total wheat crop production by about 10.4%, with an increase in the average small temperature by 10%. The model also showed an inverse relationship between the quantity of wheat crop production and the average bone temperature, where the results indicate a decrease in total wheat production, as the increase of bone temperatures by 10% leads to a decrease of agricultural production by 27% during the study period.

Objective: To determine how the planted area, the harvested area, and the value of agricultural production affect poverty, moderate poverty, extreme poverty, and the lack of access to nutritious and quality food in Mexico. Hypothesis: The planted area, the harvested area, and the value of agricultural production affect poverty, moderate poverty, extreme poverty, and the lack of access to nutritious and quality food in Mexico. Methodology: Eight data panels were conducted (four with fixed effects and four with variable effects) comparing planted area, harvested area, and the value of agricultural production with poverty, moderate poverty, extreme poverty, and the lack of access to nutritious and quality food in Mexico. Natural logarithms of the variables were used. Results: In general, the natural logarithms of planted area, the natural logarithms of harvested area, and the natural logarithms of the value of agricultural production had an impact on the natural logarithms of poverty, the natural logarithms of moderate poverty, and the natural logarithms of extreme poverty. The only exception was the natural logarithms of the lack of access to nutritious and quality food. Limitations on study/implications: The government should work on transmission mechanisms so that the planted area, the harvested area, and the value of agricultural production could help reduce poverty in Mexico. One limitation is that the states were not characterized. Conclusions: Agricultural production in Mexico (measured through planted area, harvested area, and the value of production) affects the types of poverty in Mexico.

Economic development and ecological restoration guided by policies has had a profound impact on the relationship between ecosystem service supply and consumption in the past few decades. Exploring the relationship in specific study areas is necessary to support regional planning for sustainability. In this study, we analyzed the equilibrium relationship between ecosystem service supply and consumption driven by economic development and ecological restoration from 1995 to 2018 in Northeast China. We quantified the supply and consumption of three critical ecosystem services, food production, water yield and atmospheric regulation, and identified the main areas for supply and consumption of ecosystem services. We measured the quantity and spatial equilibrium relationship between ecosystem service supply and consumption driven by economic development and ecological restoration at economic megaregion scale. We found the new industrial structure shaped by regional economic development policies formed the new ecosystem service consumer demand. The development of agricultural industry not only resulted in the increase of water consumption, but also the scope of water consumption was expanded in Northeast China. The development of tertiary industry causes the change of atmospheric regulation consumption in urban agglomeration. What’s more, economic development exacerbated imbalances in the supply and consumption of ecosystem services. The unbalanced areas where food supply was less than consumption were in the clusters of Harbin, Changchun, Shenyang, and coastal cities. Since food products can circulate freely through the market, this imbalance will not fundamentally affect regional food security, but will improve the level of agricultural industrialization and scale. The implementation of the grain economic policy caused the rapid expansion of unbalanced areas where water supply was less than consumption. The incredible space mismatch between the supply and consumption of ecosystem services still exists for a long time. However, the implementation of the ecological restoration didn’t effectively solve the problem of insatiable ecosystem service consumption. The ecosystem service consumption brought by economic development need to be given the utmost attention when formulating ecological restoration policies and economic development policies. The results can provide insights for enhancing economic sustainability in northeast china, as well other economic megaregion with similar characteristics throughout the world.

Agricultural production is important for ensuring food security, supporting many activities of society and building strong trade economy of a country, but can be slightly influenced by numerous factors. Even if exists a lot of studies that analyze the influencing factors of agricultural production in terms of value, investments, climate change, credits, costs of energy and more, in the literature can be observed a research gap regarding the relation between emissions or mean weekly hours actually worked per employed person and value of agricultural production. The identified gap in the specialty literature was covered in this paper. The present paper aims to analyze a series of factors that influence the value of agricultural production, like: climate change, employment, government expenditure and imports, after discussing the theoretical framework about the subject. The methodological approach is based on using several linear regressions, tested with the EViews software. One of the main findings indicates the existence of relationships between both the change of imports and the change of emissions with the value of agricultural production in Romania during 1995-2021. Also, another result indicates a negative influence of temperature change on the value of agricultural production, showing once again that climate change does negatively impact agricultural output and, thus, the sustainable development of Romania. This study could be used further by policy makers to understand on which drivers should act on in developing sustainable policies for Romanian agriculture.

In 2004-2014, cost of energy consumed in Polish agriculture (in current prices) increased by 50.9%, and energy inputs in TJ decreased by 6.9%. At the same time, value (in current prices) of global agricultural production increased by 51.9%, final production – by 65.6% and commercial production – by 67.7%, and in fixed prices – respectively, by 14.7%, 19.4% and 23.5%. Gross value added in current prices was by 61.7%, and in fixed prices by 7.8% higher than in 2004. Correlation between the value of production and costs of energy in agriculture (in current prices) is positive and the strongest when gross value added is the measure of agricultural production. The adjustment of the model (linear function) describing correlation was good or satisfactory, depending on the adopted category of agricultural production. Whereas the correlation between value of agricultural production in fixed prices and energy inputs in TJ is negative. The model adjustment is in this case unsatisfactory, no matter which category of agricultural production was taken into account.

Moldova possesses the largest area of farmland as a share of its total land surface, an advantage which should encourage economic development strategies oriented towards the agriculture sector. Government subsidies and agriculture loans have been used as tools for developing the Moldavian agriculture. However, considering the challenges generated by both climate change (the drought from year 2012 that affected 80% of farmland) and a difficult political situation (restrictions imposed by the Russian Federation on the Republic of Moldova’s agri-food imports and exports between 2013 and 2014), the country’s agricultural system ranks very low when it comes to agricultural production efficiency. The present paper analyses the performances of the agricultural sector and its impact on the Moldavian economy over a nine-year period (between 2008 and 2016), by using a custom-developed analytical framework based on a dataset containing 21 relevant indicators. The analytical framework generates various perspectives that can be used to elaborate an economic sustainable development strategy of the Moldavian agriculture sector. The development of the analytical framework is based on the dynamics of agriculture subsidies, agricultural loans, the agricultural sector’s gross domestic product (GDP) and gross value added (GVA), as well as the dynamics of agricultural production and production value, also considering the main crops belonging to the Moldavian agriculture sector. The results are presented as sets of mathematical regression models that quantify the relationships found between the relevant agricultural parameters and their impact on the economics of the agricultural sector. It has been identified that the agriculture sector has a considerable impact on the Moldavian economy, a fact revealed by the significant model between the agriculture GVA and total GVA and GDP. A significant, negative correlation model was identified between agriculture subsidies and agriculture loans, although a small percentage of Moldavian agriculture farms were subsidized. Strong correlation models were also identified between wheat and maize production and total agriculture production, emphasizing the importance of these two crops for the Moldavian agricultural economy. Grape and maize production values also generated a correlation model, emphasizing the market interconnection between these crops It can be concluded that the increase in value of governmental agriculture subsidies, as well as expanding their addressability in order to maximize the access possibility for a higher number of agriculture farms, are essential for the Moldavian agriculture sector’s future development, since considering the limiting value of and accessibility to subsidies, a direct correlation model was identified between governmental agriculture subsidies and agriculture GVA.

Technical efficiency, technical change and return to scale of rice, maize and agricultural production in Vietnam

With great significance in ecosystem protection and sustainable development, the study of ecosystem service consumption (ESC) has become a hot topic in ecological research. Based on FAOSTAT data, in this study the patterns, composition and evolution of ESC and ecosystem service consumption patterns (ESCP) in the “Belt and Road” were revealed on the total and regional scales, taking consumed-biomass as a main indicator. Three main conclusions were reached. 1) The total ESC was mainly contributed from farmland ecosystems along the “Belt and Road” , followed by grassland ecosystems. The ESC indicators on the whole system scale fluctuated, but increased from year 2000 to year 2016. The total ESC increased from 12911.89 Tg yr–1 to 16810.00 Tg yr–1, and the annual per capita consumption of ecosystem services increased from 3.3228 million g p–1 yr–1 to 3.6392 million g p–1 yr–1. 2) The ESC, composition and evolution varied significantly among countries, zones and ecosystems. The annual per capita ESC was highest in Mongolia on the national scale, and highest in Central and Eastern Europe and lowest in Southeast Asia on zone scale, which represented the results from the joint effects of regional resource endowments, consumption habits, levels of productive forces, and other factors. 3) Higher farmland ESC was the dominant ESCP, which accounted for about 76.7% of the total area along the “Belt and Road”, followed by higher farmland + higher grassland ESC, which accounted for about 19.0% of the total area. The other consumption patterns (i.e., those of higher grassland ESC, higher forestland ESC or higher farmland + higher forest + higher grassland ESC) were found in only a few countries. The ESCP may be related to higher regional population density or the higher proportions of developing countries. Therefore, to realize sustainable social, economic and ecological development, and to improve people's well-being, countries along the “Belt and Road” should take advantage of their own resources in developing industries, actively expand trade, achieve mutual benefits and win-win situations, and adjust and optimize consumption patterns of ecosystem services. This study can provide data support for further research on the mechanism of ESCP formation this area.

One of the main objectives pursued in agriculture as the primary sector in the economy is to increase the labour productivity. In order for this objective to be achieved, it is necessary to increase agricultural production, while at the same time preserve natural resources and the environment. If the creators of development policies are to formulate effective policies and strategies, adequate information relating to all vital determinants of productivity of agriculture is required. Therefore, the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia annually prepares and publishes, among others, information on the value of agricultural production and the number of employees in agriculture. The aim of this paper is to examine the changes in the level of productivity of agriculture in the Republic of Serbia in the period from 2007 to 2013. It also analyses the impact of labour productivity in agriculture in the share of GDP that is realized in this sector of the national economy. Agricultural population, as one of the factors that affect productivity in agriculture is analysed in terms of education and employment. The aim is to quantify the level of productivity in agriculture, as well as to examine the interdependence between labour productivity and GDP in agriculture, in order to point to the critical determinants of productivity that require improvement. The methods used in this paper are: analysis method, synthesis method, comparison method, descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analysis. Research results show that Serbia has achieved an unenviable level of labour productivity in agriculture within the analysed period of time. Research in this study is useful for the creators and holders of the development policy for the future guidance of development policies and strategies of the agricultural sector in Serbia.

One of the major tools in agricultural finance is agricultural loans. Therefore, it is important to investigate the relationship between agricultural loans and agricultural production. In this study we aim to determine whether there is a causality relationship between the agricultural loan and agricultural production value. For this purpose we use the time series data for the years of 2005- 2018. In the study, we use Phillips-Perron unit root test to determine the stationarity levels of the variables examined. After we examine the stationary levels of time series, we perform Granger causality test to detect the causality relationship between agricultural loans and agricultural production. As a result of the Granger causality test, we determine that there is a unilateral causality relationship from the agricultural loan variable to the agricultural production value variable, that is, it can be said that agricultural loans affect the value of agricultural production. For this reason, we can state that facilitating the use of loans in the agricultural sector, and increasing the lending institutions will contribute to the increase of agricultural production value in meeting the input needs of the producers effectively.

The main ambition of this paper is to analyse agricultural developments in selected new EU member states with particular emphasis on government expenditures in agriculture. The main objective is to identify the relationship between government expenditures development on one side, and agrarian sector performance (the value of production) in selected member states on the other. The conclusions drawn from this analysis are that the agricultural sector has changed its structure and position within the national economy of selected new EU member states significantly in the 20 years since the early 1990s. Member states included in the analysis reduced both the size of their agricultural sector (number of people working in agriculture, total arable areas, number of animals, etc.), and the value of agricultural output. Despite the significant reduction of the agricultural output, member states became more efficient – and in particular their productivity per farmer increased significantly. Selected country’s agricultural sector, its structure and production value development are closely related to government expenditures. Significant correlation is apparent between agricultural government expenditures and the change in the number of economically active persons in agriculture, development of agricultural production, agricultural area, agricultural GDP and agricultural capital stock. Regarding the elasticity of new EU member states’ agricultural sector in relation to changes in government expenditures, significant elasticity is apparent in the case of the number of economically active persons in agriculture, agricultural production (especially livestock production), area of arable land, agricultural GDP and capital stock.

Among the several ecosystem services delivered by biodiversity, natural pest control and pollination are comparatively well understood and highly relevant for ensuring food provision. We describe the potential impacts of climate change, in particular the effects of increasing temperatures, on pest antagonists and pollinators, and evaluate the relevance for Austria’s agricultural ecosystems. Temperature changes lead to species range shifts, causing a reshuffling of assemblages and a decoupling of community interactions, followed by an impairment of pest control and pollination services. The effects are strongly modulated by socio-economic factors, particularly the development of semi-natural elements in agricultural landscapes. An enlargement of semi-natural area might mitigate the effects of climate change; a reduction in semi-natural area might exacerbate the climatic effects by impeding migration to track temperature changes even further. We calculated the value of pest control in Austria to be approximately 255 million euros or 8.5 % of the total agricultural plant product value in 2008. Pollination in Austria is worth 298 million euros, corresponding to 9.9 % of the total agricultural plant product value. We distinguish and discuss four possible climate impact scenarios; a scenario describing a moderate reduction of these values emerged as the most likely one.