Search

Bearing in mind the increasingly pronounced world challenges such as the growth of population on the world, climate changes and pandemics, there is an increasing emphasis on healthy and safe food, as well as environmental protection. Organic production achieves the best ecological advantages compared to all other agricultural production methods. However, its application is limited due to lower yields, which requires increasing productivity. The aim of the paper is to differentiate between conventional and organic inputs (resources) and their impact on agricultural production, economic and sustainable development. Ordinary Least Square (OLS) panel regression did not show a significant difference between conventional and organic inputs for agricultural production, where it is only important to increase the amount of inputs for higher production, while the increase in total factor productivity of inputs has a positive impact on the economic and sustainable development of the observed countries.

Since agriculture is the highly important economic activity in the Republic of Serbia, it is necessary to create an environment in which competitive agricultural enterprises will develop. However, regions in the Republic of Serbia considerably differ regarding the intensity of agricultural activity. This paper examines the impact of agricultural enterprises on the regions contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country in the period between 2010 and 2018. Activity of agricultural enterprises was observed using number of agricultural enterprises, number of employees in them, their turnover and gross value added. Random-Effects GLS regression showed that regions with higher agricultural activity contribute to the lesser extent to the GDP of the country. Research results are robust to changing sampling period and lagging independent variables. In this regard, several proposals have been recommended.

Bearing in mind the predictions of global population growth and the reduction of agricultural areas, followed by the depletion of non-renewable resources and environmental pollution, which leads to climate changes, it is necessary to implement sustainable solutions in the shortest possible time in agriculture, as one of the leading polluters. It is necessary to resolve the contradiction between increasing yields and preserving the environment. In this sense, modern technological solutions in agriculture should be applied, which will lead to an increase in productivity, i.e. creating a higher yield on the same or smaller areas. This can be achieved by optimizing the use of inputs in agriculture by introducing different solutions within precision agriculture. AI is one solution that needs to be developed and that leads to sustainable development. Adequate education, digital literacy and appropriate infrastructure are also required for its application. The goal of the research is to indicate the direction in which technological progress in agriculture should go and how the current technologies applied in agriculture reflect on the economic and sustainable development. With OLS panel regression concluded that only agricultural technologies that lead to increase productivity in agriculture have a positive impact on economic and sustainable development.