Bartosz Mickiewicz

BIOECONOMY DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL BASED ON MORE EFFICIENT LAND USE IN THE EU

Europe 2020 Strategy highlights bioeconomy as a key element for smart and green growth in Europe. Bioeconomy in this case includes agriculture, forestry, fisheries, food and pulp and paper production, parts of chemical, biotechnological and energy industries and plays an important role in the EU’s economy. The growth of key industries of bioeconomy – agriculture and forestry – highly depends on an efficient and productive use of land as a production resource. The overall aim of this paper is to evaluate opportunities for development of the main sectors of bioeconomy (agriculture and forestry) in the EU based on the available resources of land. To achieve this aim, several methods were used – monographic, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, statistical analysis methods. The findings show that it is possible to improve the use of land in the EU Member States. If all the Member States reached the average EU level, agricultural products worth EUR 77 bln would be annually additionally produced, which is 19 % more than in 2014, and an extra 5 billion m3 volume of forest growing stock would be gained, which is 20 % more than in 2010. Keywords: bioeconomy, agricultural and forest area, efficiency, productivity. Article DOI: http://doi.org/10.15544/RD.2015.101

Performance characteristics of activities in priority 3 of rural development program 2014-2020

The study covered five activities which, according to the European regulations, were included in Priority 3 of RDP 2014-2020. The aim of this priority is improvement in the organization of the food chain, promotion of animal welfare and risk management in agriculture. Most support instruments within the entire priority were pointed to processing and marketing of agricultural products (42.8 %) and to establishing of producer groups and organizations (24.9 %). The planned product indicators in the first case were set at the level of 1.5 thousand beneficiaries, in the second case at the level of 1.8 thousand groups, which will gather 36 thousand farmers. In general, 1619.0 million euros are intended for activities under Priority 3, including 1030.1 million euros from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), or (12.0 %) of the indicative budget of the Rural Development Program (RDP), set at 13.5 billion euros, including 8.6 billion euros from the EAFRD.

POLISH ORGANIC FARMING ON THE BACKGROUND OF THE EUROPEAN UNION IN LIGHT OF NEW REGULATIONS

The theme of the development of organic farming in the EU and in Poland was taken up in the study, pointing out that organic production is an element of the EU agricultural product quality schemes. In this sense, organic production pursues the same objectives under the Common Agricultural Policy which are an integral part of all the EU systems of quality agricultural production. Within the EU, the number of organic farms increased from 124.8 thousand in 2004 to 186.2 thousand in 2010 (49.2%), while the level of organic crops increased respectively from 5.9 million hectares to 9.2 million hectares (55.9%). In Poland in 2013, there were 19,900 certified organic farms adding 6.7 thousand ones which were to undertake organic production during the so-called transition (adaptation) period. The average area of an organic farm was twice larger than that of the average size in the country. These farms occupied 1.4% of the total area of agricultural land including farms which are in the stage of transition. This area accounted for 2.0% of arable land in the country. An important part of the functioning of such farms was their certification, which implied products with logos and mandatory labelling. Financial support for organic farming was carried out within the framework of agri-environmental programmes with participation of farmers in the food quality scheme of the RDP. Between 2014–2020, additional actions related to organic farming were undertaken.

The issues of small agricultural farms in Polish agriculture in the years 2014–2020 in the light of legal regulations of the European Parliament and of the Council

The paper focuses on the issues concerning the support for small farms provided under the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union. The concept of Standard Output was used to define a small farm as one with an economic size less than 10 thousand euro SO. Details of a new, simplified system of direct payments, adopted as part of the first Pillar of the CAP, were discussed. The system allows small DOI: Bartosz Mickiewicz, Antoni Mickiewicz 34 PDGR – PSAH farmers not to fulfil the standards and requirements of cross-compliance, or to apply the greening practices. New measures within the second Pillar of the CAP, such as the restructuring of small farms and the payments to farmers for the transfer of small farms, were described. With the adoption of the Rural Development Programme for the years 2014–2020, agricultural policy has taken a new direction which aims at strengthening small farms, whose role in the development of rural areas grows in

Rola i znaczenie cross-compliance w dopłatach bezpośrednich dla rolników w latach 2015–2020

The article presents the legal regulations of the European Union in the fi eld of cross-compliance requirements. The requirements were thought to change agricultural production in less intensive direction with respecting of the environment. The regulations encouraged the development of organic production methods. Cross compliance in the new fi nancial perspective means greater relation between the amount of direct payments earned by farmers and non-investment payments received from the Rural Development Programme. Studies show that new regulations adopted for the period 2015–2020 aimed at development of sustainable farming systems so that farmers can respond to many challenges awaiting them, not just those connected with climate change and increasing pressure associated with the use of natural resources.

IMPORTANCE OF THE AGRI-ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATE SCHEME WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION SYSTEM (IN THE LIGHT OF THE POLISH RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME 2014–2020)

The study discusses the agri-environment scheme, which gained a high position in the process of integration of environmental protection in the framework of the CAP. The purpose of the payments was to encourage farmers to protect and improve the environment. The farmers were required to apply environmentally friendly techniques and practices for a period of fi ve years. Received payments had additional reimbursement of extra costs and decreased income resulting from the application of environment-friendly practices. Agrienvironmental scheme was realized through packages and variants, whose number diff ered in time. In 2004–2006, agrienvironmental scheme included approximately 70 thousand of agricultural holdings, which labored on the surface of the 1.4 million ha. In the next programming period (2007–2013) the benefi ciaries submitted 448,6 thousand applications, and the level of payment amounted to PLN 6.7 billion. The program of the current fi nancial perspective (2014–2020) includes 2058,9 thousand ha of agricultural land, as compared to the total area of agricultural land in the country in the amount of 14609 ha of agricultural land represents 14.1%

THE REALIZATION OF THE AGRI-ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SCHEME IN THE AREA OF NATURA 2000 IN THE VALLEY OF BIEBRZA RIVER

The aim of the research was to analyse the functioning of agricultural farms located in the areas of Natura 2000 network. The research was conducted in 2015 among 70 farmers whose lands were located in the Valley of Biebrza River in Podlaskie Voivodeship. The main research method was a questionnaire. According to the results of the research, the agri-environmental scheme is a proper tool that combines the environmental protection and local producers’ interests; however, it requires the implementation of a supplement adjusted to the nature of the areas. It is also indicated that even though the economic part of the program does not raise any doubts, the natural eff ects are practically not recognized, which may lead to an incomplete protection of precious species and habitats.