Greek Agriculture Research Articles

Long-term productivity growth and sustainability of Greek irrigated agriculture

The present study examines the long-term productivity growth and sustainability of Greek irrigated agriculture. A log linear trend model was used to measure long-term productivity growth, and the total factor productivity (TFP) approach measures the sustainability of the irrigated production system. A time series database of inputs and outputs data were used for the production period of 1961 – 2001 (41 years) which revealed that there is an increasing trend in the irrigated area of the country. The annual growth rate of the irrigated area is 2.6% during this time period. The long-term trends in yields of crops grown in irrigated agriculture are positive. Fertilizer use rate per ha sharply increases during this period. The productivity of irrigated Greek agriculture also increases over the time period as a result of the introduction of High Yielding Variety (HYV), seed, fertilizer and water technology. The measurement of TFP indices indicates that the long-term trend in productivity growth of irrigated Greek agricultural system is positive. The result implies that the irrigated Greek agricultural production system has long-term sustainability. The result also indicates that fertilizer, fixed capital, rainfall and temperature are positively contributing to the mean production of Greek irrigated agriculture. On the other hand, pesticide, labour and fixed capital reduces variability of irrigated agriculture. To this end, long-term agricultural sustainability depends on patterns of input use.

The Relationship Between Macroeconomic Variables and Relative Price Variability in Greek Agriculture

The purpose of this paper is to present a measure of relative price variability (RPV) among 53 agricultural products and to explore the relationships between RPV, aggregate inflation rate, and changes in economic activity for the period 1962–1997. We also estimate the effects of expected and unexpected components of inflation on price variability. The results show that changes in inflation rate and economic activity have a strong positive effect on RPV, in addition, expected inflation is found to be an important determinant for explaining price variability.

Ecological Sustainability in Greek Agriculture: An Application of Energy Flow Approach

This study uses an energy flow approach to investigate the ecological sustainability of Greek agriculture. The approach is based on the analysis of ratios of energy output and energy input over a long period of time. Structural changes in land use in Greek agriculture were observed over the period 1961–98. There was an increasing trend in consumption of energy input in Greek agriculture throughout the period 1961 to 1998 as a result of diffusion of capital intensive technology. High growth in the production of energy output of cereals and vegetables was observed during the same period. The total energy output flow had a sharp increasing trend during 1961 to 1991, thereafter it declined slightly until 1998. The ratio analysis showed that the Greek agricultural system is ecologically sustainable as the energy output exceeded the amount of conventional energy required to produce it.

Public infrastructure and productivity growth in Greek agriculture

AbstractRecent research has focused on the effect of public infrastructure on economic performance. In this paper, a model of Greek agriculture's technology and behaviour is constructed based on the dual cost function framework. The model provides a decomposition of productivity growth into the components technical change, returns to scale, and public infrastructure. The empirical estimates indicate that public infrastructure investment provides a significant return to agriculture and augments productivity growth. Over the period 1960–1995, the impact of public infrastructure on productivity growth in livestock and crop production is found to be positive, although it has been declining since the late 1970s. These results strongly suggest that a decline in public infrastructure investment can partly explain the observed decline in the productivity growth of Greek agriculture in the 1980s.

Public infrastructure and productivity growth in Greek agriculture

Recent research has focused on the effect of public infrastructure on economic performance. In this paper, a model of Greek agriculture’s technology and behaviour is constructed based on the dual cost function framework. The model provides a decomposition of productivity growth into the components technical change, returns to scale, and public infrastructure. The empirical estimates indicate that public infrastructure investment provides a significant return to agriculture and augments productivity growth. Over the period 1960–1995, the impact of public infrastructure on productivity growth in livestock and crop production is found to be positive, although it has been declining since the late 1970s. These results strongly suggest that a decline in public infrastructure investment can partly explain the observed decline in the productivity growth of Greek agriculture in the 1980s.

Young women farm heads in Greek agriculture: entering farming through policy incentives

This work examines the entry of young Greek women into farming as heads of farmholdings under the relevant EU and national framework of incentives. The work is based on the analysis of available secondary information and mail-survey data secured from a sample of 128 young women established in farming during the period 1991–2000 in the region of Thessaly, Central Greece. Their responses to the system of incentives are examined initially as a whole group and then separately by focusing on two typological polar opposites, that is those women that are entering farming as a lifestyle and those entering for reasons of necessity. There is documentation of young women farmers’ use of the incentives and benefits derived there from and their assumption of a certain share in the decision-making power vis-a-vis their farmholding, the last-mentioned especially when the two typological groups are considered.

L'agriculture grecque : multifonctionnalité, politique agricole et réseaux sociaux informels

Greek agriculture: multifunctionauty, agricultural policy and social informal networks - Greek agriculture seems to follow a different evolution compared with the other countries of the eu. It is sustainable because it is already multifunctional. Its productive structure reflects and maintains the logic of the Greek agricultural family's functioning and of the social informal networks into which it is integrated. In fact, these networks have been reinforced by the CAP's implementation.

Utilising a farm typology to identify potential adopters of alternative farming activities in Greek agriculture

Farm household survival strategies are acknowledged to determine the adoption of alternative farm enterprises as part of the farm household's production and reproduction pattern and are, thus, used to identify the potential adopters of such enterprises. The present work utilises an ideal typology of Greek farms in order to identify different types of farms as regards their mode of survival. Each survival strategy is linked to different motives for and constraints against the adoption of alternative farm enterprises. Results show that three types of farm households may be identified, namely subsistence, survivalist and productivist farm households. The potential adopters of alternative farm enterprises may be traced among farm households that pursue a survivalist mode of production. It is argued that the diversity of farm structures observed within this type of farm households cannot be regarded as the decisive factor as far as their mode of survival is concerned. Rather, it is considered to form a context of different motivations for and constraints against the adoption of alternative farming activities.

Technical efficiency of alternative farming systems: the case of Greek organic and conventional olive-growing farms

Olive-growing is a major farming activity in Greek agriculture. This paper analyzes empirically the technical efficiency of organic and conventional olive-growing farms using a stochastic production frontier methodology and a translog functional specification. Findings indicate that the organic olive-growing farms examined exhibit a higher degree of technical efficiency (relative to their production frontier) than do conventional olive-growing farms. Reasons may include lower profit margins and restrictions on inputs permitted, thus forcing organic farmers to be more cautious with input use. However, both input- and output-oriented technical efficiency scores are still relatively low for both types of olive-farming. Thus there is considerable scope for cost reducing and farm income improvement in both farming modes. This could prove crucial for the long-run viability and the future course of the sector.

Investigating the “Complementarity Hypothesis” in Greek Agriculture: An Empirical Analysis

AbstractThis study investigates determinants of private capital formation in Greek agriculture and tests the “complementarity” against the “crowding out” hypothesis using multivariate cointegration techniques and ECVAR modeling in conjunction with variance decomposition and impulse response analysis. The results provide evidence of a significant positive causal effect of government spending on private capital formation, thus supporting the “complementarity” hypothesis for Greek agriculture.

Testing regularity properties in static and dynamic duality models: the case of Greek agriculture

An error correction model of Greek agriculture for the period 1961-94 is estimated using a dynamic system of output and input share equations derived from a translog profit function. Nested within this model are a static model and three simpler dynamic models: a partial adjustment model, autoregressive error model and finite distributed lag model. The data-generating process rejects the static model and simpler dynamic models in favour of the more general error correction model, which is also found to perform better than the static model in terms of consistency with the regularity properties implied by economic theory. Copyright 1999 by Oxford University Press.

Small Rural Ownership, Subsistence Agriculture, and Peasant Protest in Interwar Greece: the Agrarian Question Recast

In 1928, 67% of the Greek population resided in villages and small provin-cial towns with less than 5,000 inhabitants, while 53.2% of the economically active were employed in agriculture and animal husbandry. It is not surprising, then, that the "agrarian question" should constitute the cornerstone of modern Greek historiography and social science. Despite all the attention Greek agriculture has attracted, however, the exact nature of the adversities faced by the peasant smallholder still escapes us. Indeed, in recent years, earlier schematic accounts portraying Greek peasants as invariably tyrannized at the hands of "feudal landlords" have been replaced by what can be construed as the "rosy image of the countryside." Both approaches, however, are misleading. Contrary to a widespread view, the Greek countryside was far from peaceful. Rural contention involved occupations of Church lands, hunger marches, and, above all, the full-fledged rebellion of the Peloponnesian currant growers in 1934-1935. In an attempt to trace the roots of peasant unrest to prevailing material conditions, the argument is advanced that the interwar agrarian reform was not equitable; nor did it guarantee the majority of smallholders a minimum of purchasing power. The article includes an appendix listing rural mobilizations in the period 1919-1936 and a quantifi-cation of peasant militancy.

Warfare and Agriculture in Classical Greece

The ancient Greeks were for the most part a rural, not an urban, society. And for much of the Classical period, war was more common than peace. Almost all accounts of ancient history assume that farming and fighting were critical events in the lives of the citizenry. Yet never before have we had a comprehensive modern study of the relationship between agriculture and warfare in the Greek world. In this completely revised edition of Warfare and Agriculture in Classical Greece, Victor Davis Hanson provides a systematic review of Greek agriculture and warfare and describes the relationship between these two important aspects of life in ancient communities. With careful attention to agronomic as well as military details, this well-written, thoroughly researched study reveals the remarkable resilience of those farmland communities. In the past, scholars have assumed that the agricultural infrastructure of ancient society was often ruined by attack, as, for example, Athens was relegated to poverty in the aftermath of the Persian and later Peloponnesian invasions. Hanson's study shows, however, that in reality attacks on agriculture rarely resulted in famines or permanent agrarian depression. Trees and vines are hard to destroy, and grainfields are only briefly vulnerable to torching. In addition, ancient armies were rather inefficient systematic ravagers and instead used other tactics, such as occupying their enemies' farms to incite infantry battle. Warfare and Agriculture in Classical Greece suggests that for all ancient societies, rural depression and desolation came about from more subtle phenomena--taxes, changes in political and social structure, and new cultural values--rather than from destructive warfare.

Dowry, capital accumulation and social reproduction in 19th Century Greek agriculture

Alexis Franghiadis, Dowry, capital accumulation and social reproduction in 19th Century Greek agriculture, p. 187-192. In Greece, the legally sanctioned practice of giving dowries to daughters prompted peasants to maximize production and orient their crops to the market, while, at the same time, it prevented the dissolution of family farms and the development of capitalist forms of organization of production. To move away from the ideal of autarcy does not however mean that the family ceases to be the predominant unit of production and decision-making.

Family Farming and Capitalist Development in Greek Agriculture: A Critical Review of the Literature

This paper aims at the critical review of the studies concerning family farming in Greece by looking both at more general treatments of family farming issues connected with its integration into the wider economy and at specific empirical research on family farm operation. First, the paper discusses the definition and theoretical underpinnings of the family farm as developed in western literature. Then it provides the contextual information for the discussion following on Greek family farming. The next parts are devoted to a review of the debate over the development of capitalism in Greek agriculture and a critical evaluation of the work produced on family farming in the post‐1980 period in the country. This review deals mainly with methodological and theoretical arguments rather than actual empirical research on Greek family farming. Finally, a discussion is developed in search of a more holistic treatment of family farming in Greece.

Family Farming and Capitalist Development in Greek Agriculture: A Critical Review of the Literature

Family Farming and Capitalist Development in Greek Agriculture: A Critical Review of the Literature

Agriculture and the Greek Rural Environment

Over the past forty years Greek agriculture has experienced significant changes with profound impact on the state of the rural environment. Intensification of agricultural production is the driving force behind most negative environmental impacts caused by agricultural activities. Intensification is indicated by increased farm specialization and concentration, mechanization of production, increased fertilizer and pesticide use and high demand for irrigation water. The relationship between agriculture and the environment presents important territorial differences. A traditional level of analysis is adopted, relating to the territorial differentiation of rural space into mountainous, semi‐mountainous and plain areas. This is a classification based on a complex criterion that encompasses various environmental conditions and diverse human activity. In this framework, actual and potential conflicts or synergies are easily perceived and satisfactory policy responses are proposed.

The Ongoing Quest for a Model of Greek Agriculture

Contrary to all expectations, the accession of Greece to the EU did not signal the beginning of a move towards uniformity of agricultural structures. Rather, one could claim that it reinforced deviations and inequalities. The hybridization of the social forms of agricultural labour was intensified (co‐existence of petty commodity, contractual, wage labour or self‐consumption forms of production) and pluriactivity (at a household and individual level) is widespread. Thus the gap between a modernized, mechanized and intensive agriculture and a traditional, craft‐like and ‘unproductive’ agriculture has further deepened, dividing agricultural Greece into two: the coastal regions and extensive flat lands and the mountainous and island Greece. Finally, the relationship of the farmer with the land becomes differentiated and more complicated (sharp increase of land rented, but also perpetuation of traditional relations or the appearance of new, non‐traditional forms of family land development).

The Ongoing Quest for a Model of Greek Agriculture

The Ongoing Quest for a Model of Greek Agriculture

Macro-monetary effects on agricultural prices: the case of Greek agriculture

The macroeconomic effects on agricultural prices in the Greek economy and, in particular, differences in prices paid and received by farmers (cost-price squeeze) are examined employing integration and cointegration analysis. A Johansen cointegration test between prices paid and prices received by farmers supports the presence of cost-price squeeze, since non-cointegration between the two price indices cannot be rejected. In other words, prices paid by farmers respond more than prices received by farmers during inflationary periods and hence affect their parity ratio. Multivariate cointegration tests indicated that forces outside agriculture can explain the non-cointegration between farm input and output prices. These forces are monetary macro variables through the country's macroeconomic policy, such as money supply, the general price level and the domestic product.