Performance indicators used to study the sustainability of farms. Case study from Poland

Autor: Agnieszka Piernik, Andrzej Nienartowicz, Anna Lewandowska-Czarnecka
Rok vydání: 2019
Předmět:
Zdroj: Ecological Indicators. 99:51-60
ISSN: 1470-160X
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.11.067
Popis: This article concerns the issue of sustainable agriculture, especially in the context of applying the sustainable agricultural indicators. The research was carried out in the period 2002–2004. The aims of this study were the following: a. analysis of farms in northern Poland in the context of sustainable development in the transformation period before accession to the E.U.; b. development of an indicator method for farm evaluation; c. selection of the indicators that most clearly distinguish differences between farms. The farms’ assessments were performed by a modification of the Agricultural Performance Indicators' methodology (APIs modified) supported by energy analysis. The indicators were calculated by analysing the following features: Primary Production, Yield Plant Production, Yield Plant Sold, Animal Production, External Renewable Inputs, and Internal Renewable Inputs. The results showed that for the surveyed farms the highest values of renewable inputs from outside the farm used in the production process occurred in mixed farms of up to 40 ha, followed by animal and ecological farms. For all farms the average energy value of produced biomass was only slightly greater than the energy value of the inputs. The indicators of dependence on non-renewable resources clearly showed a higher value compared to Italian farms. The group of ecological farms obtained the highest autonomy indicator value (53%). The indicator of overall sustainability showed that the contribution of agriculturally-generated external input was at levels ranging from 14% to 66% of total input. The features and indicators that most significantly differentiated the study group of farms were Yield Plant Sold, Indicator of Primary Production to the Internal Input, Indicator of Sales to the Input from Non-Renewable Sources of Energy, Indicator of Sales to the Overall External Input, Indicator of Primary Production to the Overall Energy Input, Indicator of Primary Production to the External Non-Renewable Input, and Yield Plant for Fodder.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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