Andrzej Czyżewski

Poznań University of Economics Poznań, Poland

a.czyzewski@ue.poznan.pl

Specialization and diversiFIcation of agricultural production in the light of sustainable development

 Katarzyna Smędzik-Ambroży

Poznań University of Economics Poznań, Poland

  katarzyna.smedzik@ue.poznan.pl

Abstract. The study evaluated the importance of agricultural production structures for economic efficiency and environmental sustainability of farms. For this purpose, multivariate methods were used: ordering and data envelopment analysis (DEA). The study is based on accounting data from the farms of intensive agriculture in Wielkopolska Province, collected by the Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics in Warsaw in 2004-2009. It was demonstrated that diversified farms achieve similar economic efficiency indicators as specialized farms. At the same time it was proven that the farms with production specializing in breeding cattle, implement their function of “guardians of the countryside” in the same degree or even better. Thus, the main hypothesis of the study formulated on the basis of studying literature was rejected. It said that: specialized farms achieve higher economic efficiency with lower environmental sustainability of the production than diversified farms. In the diversified farms there is higher environmental sustainability of production at lower economic efficiency than in specialized farms.

Received: March, 2015

1st Revision: May, 2015

Accepted: July, 2015

DOI: 10.14254/2071-

8330.2015/8-2/6

JEL Classification: Q1, Q2, D2, Q5

Keywords: farms, specialization and diversification of production, economic efficiency, environmental sustainability