Abstract
The aim of the study was to provide the examples of eco-innovations in agriculture relating to the concept of sustainable development and the indication of their conditions. Quantitative and qualitative methods were applied to the research, namely: descriptive statistical and economic analysis of the Polish Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) data and Statistics Poland data, as well as case studies of organic food producers, covering the years 2005–2019. Indicated information sources, encompassing long time span of analysis and various data collections, allowed presenting the complementary picture of eco-innovations at the sector and farm levels. The research examined the different types of ecological innovations in Polish agriculture, including: (1) organisational innovations with an institutional background (e.g., the organic farming support and greening mechanism of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)—implemented in the family farming sector); and (2) the product, marketing, process and organisational innovations in selected organic farms that were individual farmers’ initiatives. On the one hand, the research documented the effectiveness of new agricultural policy solutions in the agricultural sector that are examples of organisational eco-innovations. During 2005–2016, the certification system, as well as policy support, contributed to the development of organic farms in Poland in terms of the growth in the share of this type of holdings in total (from 0.5% to 4.6%) and in the overall utilised agricultural area (UAA) (from 0.3% to 3.7%). Moreover, during 2014–2015, as a result of the greening in agricultural holdings, the area sown with pulses and papilionaceous, i.e., crops improving soil structure and protecting soils, rose by 174% and 161%, respectively. On the other hand, the case studies conducted showed that the food producers’ knowledge and skills combined with a favourable local economic and social situation, as well as institutional support, played a key role in the process of the emergence of eco-innovations. Among those factors, the respondents’ individual characteristics associated with attitudes towards farming and the social, human and physical capital passed on by family members should be highlighted. This paper contributes to existing literature in two ways. First, this study combines both quantitative and qualitative (including in-depth interviews) approaches to eco-innovations at the micro and macro level of analysis. Second, by differentiating two approaches to ecological innovations, namely the conventional and the sustainable, the article indicates and considers the key factors favourable to the latter.
Highlights
In the scientific literature, public policy and economic practice, increasing attention is being paid to ecological innovations, known as eco-innovations [1,2,3,4]
The conventional approach to eco-innovations in agriculture presumes the primacy of an economic interest over an ecological one, because it does not challenge the paradigm of growth, which contributes to exploitation of natural resources and to climate change [63]
The analysis of organic food producers in this study showed that the successful implementation of ecological innovations was conditioned by several individual, social, economic and institutional factors affecting different levels (Figure 2)
Summary
Public policy and economic practice, increasing attention is being paid to ecological innovations, known as eco-innovations [1,2,3,4]. Despite growing attention to environmental projects, the predominant industrial agricultural production model is based on new technological solutions whose social and environmental character has not been sufficiently recognised [7,8]. This situation is essentially based on the paradigm of growth, highlighting the need to increase production efficiency, while possibly reducing the negative impact on the natural environment [9]. Eco-innovation in agriculture that relates to the concept of sustainable development presents another order of priorities In this case, environmental boundaries define the business framework, in line with the assumptions of ecological economics [10]. A social aspect that highlights the need for the primacy of consumer health, income parity in agriculture and the need to maintain the viability of rural areas plays an important role [10,11]
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