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The Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) and the Farm Advisory Service (FAS) are important elements of the current Programming Period of the Common Agricultural Policy (2023–2027), as it is now deemed necessary to transition the European agricultural model to more sustainable forms, through the dissemination of agricultural knowledge, while simultaneously promoting innovative methods. An Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System must be able to propose and develop ideas for the transmission of agricultural knowledge, promoting innovation and the exchange of ideas. The present study includes a significant number of investigations on the effectiveness of the implementation of the AKIS and the FAS so that the conclusions are representative of the scope of the work. The object in question is now the cornerstone of the modernization of agricultural production and an important way out towards more competitive models of agriculture. The purpose of this paper is to give an extensive overview of the degree of implementation of Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems in the countries of the European Union (including the United Kingdom until 2019) from 2014 until today, essentially during the implementation of the second period of Common Agricultural Policy. In the context of this article, the main results of the research carried out in the EU countries during the period under study and the proposed improvements by the researchers, where they are mentioned, are recorded epigrammatically. Finally, the countries are categorized according to the degree of implementation of the AKIS and the contribution of the Agricultural Advisory System to more sustainable forms of agricultural practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural intensification and landscape homogenisation are major drivers of biodiversity loss in European agricultural landscapes. Improvements require changes in farming practices, but empirical evidence on farmers' motivations underlying their on-farm biodiversity management remains fragmented. To date, there is no aggregated overview of behavioural determinants that influence European farmers' decisions to implement biodiversity-friendly farming practices. This study aims to fill this knowledge gap by conducting a systematic literature review of 150 empirical studies published between 2000 and 2022. We identified 108 potential determinants of farmers' behaviour, which were integrated into a multilevel framework. The results show that the farmers' decisions are complex and often non-directional processes, shaped by numerous external (at a society, landscape, community, and farm level) and internal factors. These factors are embedded in regional and cultural contexts. However, the analysis of study sites indicates that the spatial coverage of scientific evidence on biodiversity-friendly farming measures is uneven across Europe. Given the diversity of local and socio-cultural conditions, there is a need for public policies, including the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy, to address more specifically determinants encouraging biodiversity-friendly farm management. This entails reflecting culture-specific perspectives and incorporating experiential knowledge into multilevel policy design processes, as well as offering regionally adapted advice on measure implementation and biodiversity impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study is devoted to a comprehensive analysis of EU agricultural legislation, its complex structure and evolution, primarily through the prism of Ukraine's European integration efforts. It is argued that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a key legislative document that promotes sustainable agricultural development, environmental protection, and rural development. The article examines the key components of EU agricultural law, its dynamic relationship with social needs and the political agenda of the entire European society. For the period up to 2027, the CAP, which is currently being reformed, is aimed at prioritising environmental sustainability and regional adaptability. It is noted that this strategic shift promotes the introduction of individual approaches to the implementation of agricultural policy, emphasising coherence and efficiency in various European agricultural ecosystems. A central element of this initiative is the allocation of significant EU funds for environmental and climate goals, in line with the overarching Green Deal strategy. The analysis of legislative trends demonstrated the Union's differentiated approach to the development of a unified agricultural policy. The author argues that environmental and climate initiatives, organic agriculture, and animal welfare measures underline the EU's commitment to biodiversity conservation, soil quality improvement, and minimising the effects of climate change. Rural development initiatives promote investment in infrastructure and the socio-economic resilience of rural communities. In addition, it is emphasised that strategic actions targeting market support, combating unfair trade and ensuring product quality underline the EU's commitment to maintaining market stability, transparency and increasing consumer confidence in European products. The comprehensive review identifies the main trends shaping EU agricultural policy, including an increased focus on environmental sustainability, rural diversification, social ethics, and food safety. This reflects the EU's integrated approach to agricultural governance, which combines economic imperatives with environmental and social considerations. In turn, this will serve as a valuable resource for the national legal system in terms of making informed decisions and aligning national policies with the European acquis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study comprehensively analyzed the dynamic landscape of organic farming in the European Union (EU) from 2004 to 2021, investigating the shifts in dedicated agricultural areas influenced by evolving preferences and the priorities of farmers and consumers. Examining the impact of socio-economic factors, including gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, the human development index (HDI), and human population density, this study established multivariate relationships through country-level analyses based on correlations, principal component analysis, cluster analysis, and panel analysis. Despite a universal increase in the organic agriculture areas across all the EU countries during the study period, the production levels exhibited negative correlations with the human population density, GDP per capita, and HDI. Notably, the Baltic countries and Austria led in organic farming production, while Malta, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, and Luxemburg formed a distinct group in the cluster analysis with less intensive organic agriculture per capita. These insights are crucial for supporting the resilience and sustainability of organic farming as it continues to evolve. Predictions of organic agriculture share for 2030 based on trends evaluated using linear regression in the years 2004–2021 estimated about 12% of utilized agricultural area, which was much lower than the target share of the European Commission at 25%. Predictions based on linear regression showed that achieving the European Green Deal target of a 25% share of organic agriculture in unlikely in most EU countries by 2030. The target is only highly probable to be obtained in Austria, Estonia, and Sweden. The EU countries varied significantly across various indices characterizing organic agriculture, including organic agriculture area share. It should be noted that the study was conducted on the data obtained prior to the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, which could potentially alter the previous trends in the development of organic agriculture in the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The grapevine is one of the most important perennial fruit crops worldwide. The historical stability of winegrowing methods has spanned almost 3000 years since the introduction of viticulture in Europe. However, in the last 70 years, the wine sector in the Europe has experienced substantial transformations. These changes are attributed to the widespread adoption of mechanisation and industralisation in the 1950s and the establishment of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The growing concern for the environment and climate change in the European Union (EU) has significantly influenced the successive reforms of the CAP. These reforms have resulted in the acquisition of new commitments to protect the environment, mitigate climate change and reduce biodiversity loss over the years. In this work, we carried out a critical analysis of the most relevant aspects of the new CAP and address the regulatory framework of organic agriculture in the EU as a tool for improving the sustainability of vineyards. Currently, Spain is the country with the largest vineyard area in the world, reaching 964,000 hectares. This represents 13% of the world's vineyards and 30% in the EU, which demonstrates the importance of this crop in Europe. Due to its relevance, we focused our critical analyses of the new CAP on Spain as a case study. The latest reform of the CAP, applicable for the period 2023‐2027, is the most ambitious in environmental terms and includes instruments such as reinforced conditionality, eco‐schemes and payments for agri‐environment–climate commitments. Finally, we propose that by integrating concepts and management strategies from current organic and regenerative viticulture together with historical strategies derived from treatises and classic authors across a wide range of societies and cultures, the goals of the new CAP can be successfully met. This will contribute to reuniting the past, the present and the future of viticulture for a more nature‐based winemaking.

Objectives The main objective of the work is to assess operational programs (OP) implemented in fruit and vegetable producer organizations (PO) as a tool of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and to formulate recommendations for the future. Material and methods Research methods are based on a review of the literature on the subject and an analysis of source documents related to P.O., implemented in the years 2013 2018. Opinions of beneficiaries on P.O. were obtained by conducting questionnaire interviews using the CATI method in the population of fruit and vegetable producer organizations (P.O.) benefiting from (OP). Results A number of weaknesses have been identified resulting from the implementation of OPs, i.e. an overburden of complex administrative obligations, time-consuming and repetitive inspections carried out in the POs and unsuited result measures that discourage producers from using the POs. Conclusions Future operational programs should contain a greater number of actions allowed to be implemented and guarantee greater freedom of choice for beneficiaries. Controls on the use of public funds should be carried out efficiently, taking into account the need to minimize workload and other burdens on PO members. To assess the effectiveness of P.O. indicators should be used that more adequately measure the result of the actions taken and at the same time are not burdensome for the beneficiaries.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a European policy created in the early 1960s to address the food and economic problems affecting European society and the agricultural sector in particular. Throughout its history, the various reforms carried out in this policy have oriented it towards a reduction of direct aid to farmers' production (due to its excessive cost, among other reasons), in favor of income-related aid. In recent years, the agricultural sector in Extremadura has received CAP aid in a very unequal manner, with a more significant concentration in the agricultural areas where intensive production has been established as a base and where there is a larger population. Thus, the main objective of this research is to analyze the spatial relationships between CAP subsidies and other demographic, economic and social context variables. To achieve the proposed objective, a spatial regression model, namely Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR), has been calculated to determine the relationship between the amounts received from the CAP and the socioeconomic situation of each of the municipalities in the region. The results show a concentration of this aid in the most dynamic areas, with municipalities with a larger population and a more productive agriculture, mainly related to irrigated farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amidst growing concerns about the impact of agriculture on the environment, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has been overhauled to prioritize sustainable rural development in European agriculture. Based on this line of thought, the present contribution delves into the details of the CAP's shift, focusing on the main environmental concerns faced in the policy-making framework. Grounded in a political science perspective, the current study looks at how environmental and climate change concerns were gradually elevated inside the CAP's policy-making framework and how they helped create the "green architecture" for European agriculture. Examining the process of policy change under the lens of historical institutionalism and neo-institutionalism within the multilevel governance framework of the European Union (EU), the key role played by the gradual introduction of measures aimed at promoting measurable environmental criteria and climatic targets is highlighted. For instance, measures aimed at preserving carbon-rich soils and enhancing water resources can have positive impacts on the environment. However, these measures were also recognized to increase the cost of production for the European farmers, who faced serious difficulties in adjusting to the new framework. Within this context, this research delves into the roles played by two additional fundamental entities: the consumer and environmental activism. Additionally, the study underscores the EU's commitment to addressing climate change and sustainable development challenges and how conditionality is being used to link funding to results. Upon analyzing the CAP's shift, the reflection of a more flexible and rational approach is argued to be embodied by the new policy architecture. By incorporating both CAP pillars, encouraging collaboration with compatible policies, and allowing for greater adaptability in response to the unique circumstances and objectives of each member state, the CAP is taking significant steps towards sustainability and climate action. These insights into the significance and implications of the CAP's shift towards sustainability offer valuable recommendations for future policy developments, emphasizing the need to balance environmental concerns with the needs of farmers and other stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Administración Pública is the property of Centro de Estudios Politicos y Constitucionales and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A new 5-year Common Agricultural Policy has been in place since January 2023. Like its predecessors, this new policy will fail to deliver significant climatic and environmental benefits. We show how the Green Architecture of the policy relying on the three instruments of conditionality, eco-schemes, and agri-environment and climate measures could have been used more consistently and effectively. Our proposals are based on core principles of public economics and fiscal federalism as well as on research results in agronomy and ecology. Conditionality criteria are the minimal requirements that every agricultural producer must meet. Farmers should be rewarded for efforts that go beyond these basic requirements through eco-schemes for global public goods complemented by agri-environment and climate measures centred on local public goods. Eco-schemes should cover the whole agricultural area by targeting permanent grasslands, crop diversification, and green cover and non-productive agro-ecological infrastructures. We discuss trade-offs that our proposals could generate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article argues that, in order to study, experiment and implement models useful for the repression and, in any case, the prevention of caporalato, a dialogue between labour law and competition law is indispensable. After an analysis of the causes of labour exploitation in the agricultural sector, tracing it back in particular to the weak position of production companies in the market, the author notes the bias of the responses so far experimented by the legislator on this issue, in so far as they are limited to a perspective of merely individual protection of workers. Instead, he proposes that labour exploitation should also be combated by means of corrective action on pricing practices in the business-to-business relationship, capable of freeing the producer's income (in)stability from the power imbalances inherent in the supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food systems are major drivers of such global environmental problems as a decrease in biodiversity, degradation and fragmentation of habitats, use of fertilizers and pesticides, and water pollution. To deal with the environmental issues caused by agriculture at the European level, agri-environmental measures, including organic agriculture, through Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are introduced to alleviate the detrimental impacts of agriculture. As it is still not clear whether agri-environmental measures, including organic agriculture, contribute unambiguously to the goals set by the CAP and the impact of organic agriculture on water quality is of high uncertainty, this study aims to analyse the spatial disparity of organic land and its impact on the environment by probing into the connection between the location of organic lands and water quality. The paper is based on a study of spatial analyses of organically managed land, its structure, and its relation to water bodies with a significant load of dispersed pollution from agriculture as well as the statistical analysis of the relationship between organic agriculture and water quality. The research was carried out in Latvia and done on a national level. This paper highlights the necessity for a more goal-oriented approach to the implementation of specific CAP measures as well as gives a deeper understanding of a specific CAP measure - organic agriculture. The statistical analysis of the data confirms that the management of arable land with organic farming methods has the potential to contribute to improving and preserving surface water quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Modern Science is the property of Alcide De Gasperi University of Euroregional Economy and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study comprehensively analyzed the dynamic landscape of organic farming in the European Union (EU) from 2004 to 2021, investigating the shifts in dedicated agricultural areas influenced by evolving preferences and the priorities of farmers and consumers. Examining the impact of socio-economic factors, including gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, the human development index (HDI), and human population density, this study established multivariate relationships through country-level analyses based on correlations, principal component analysis, cluster analysis, and panel analysis. Despite a universal increase in the organic agriculture areas across all the EU countries during the study period, the production levels exhibited negative correlations with the human population density, GDP per capita, and HDI. Notably, the Baltic countries and Austria led in organic farming production, while Malta, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, and Luxemburg formed a distinct group in the cluster analysis with less intensive organic agriculture per capita. These insights are crucial for supporting the resilience and sustainability of organic farming as it continues to evolve. Predictions of organic agriculture share for 2030 based on trends evaluated using linear regression in the years 2004–2021 estimated about 12% of utilized agricultural area, which was much lower than the target share of the European Commission at 25%. Predictions based on linear regression showed that achieving the European Green Deal target of a 25% share of organic agriculture in unlikely in most EU countries by 2030. The target is only highly probable to be obtained in Austria, Estonia, and Sweden. The EU countries varied significantly across various indices characterizing organic agriculture, including organic agriculture area share. It should be noted that the study was conducted on the data obtained prior to the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, which could potentially alter the previous trends in the development of organic agriculture in the EU.

With the increasing volume of collected Earth observation (EO) data, artificial intelligence (AI) methods have become state-of-the-art in processing and analyzing them. However, there is still a lack of high-quality, large-scale EO datasets for training robust networks. This paper presents AgriSen-COG, a large-scale benchmark dataset for crop type mapping based on Sentinel-2 data. AgriSen-COG deals with the challenges of remote sensing (RS) datasets. First, it includes data from five different European countries (Austria, Belgium, Spain, Denmark, and the Netherlands), targeting the problem of domain adaptation. Second, it is multitemporal and multiyear (2019–2020), therefore enabling analysis based on the growth of crops in time and yearly variability. Third, AgriSen-COG includes an anomaly detection preprocessing step, which reduces the amount of mislabeled information. AgriSen-COG comprises 6,972,485 parcels, making it the most extensive available dataset for crop type mapping. It includes two types of data: pixel-level data and parcel aggregated information. By carrying this out, we target two computer vision (CV) problems: semantic segmentation and classification. To establish the validity of the proposed dataset, we conducted several experiments using state-of-the-art deep-learning models for temporal semantic segmentation with pixel-level data (U-Net and ConvStar networks) and time-series classification with parcel aggregated information (LSTM, Transformer, TempCNN networks). The most popular models (U-Net and LSTM) achieve the best performance in the Belgium region, with a weighted F1 score of 0.956 (U-Net) and 0.918 (LSTM).The proposed data are distributed as a cloud-optimized GeoTIFF (COG), together with a SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog (STAC), which makes AgriSen-COG a findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use (LU) monitoring and mapping from remote sensing (RS) data are relevant topics in Earth observation (EO). LU monitoring requires powerful/robust classification approaches able to provide reliable identifications in decision-making applications, even over challenging areas. The European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) promotes the use of remote sensing for LU monitoring in Europe useful in the compliance control of the subsidy payments. In this context, the present study proposes a novel classification chain to identify ten land uses, namely: forest (FOR), pasture with trees (TRE), pasture with shrubs (SHR), pastureland (PAS), vineyard (VIN), arable land (ARL), fruit trees (FRU), nut trees (NUT), citrus (CIT), and olive grove (OLI), over three areas in the Valencian Autonomous Region (Spain) where smallholding farming predominates. The approach exploits the multitemporal information provided by Sentinel-2 data using a novel spatial strategy specifically designed to deal with heterogeneous agricultural areas. More precisely, we implemented a deep learning algorithm based on bidirectional recurrent neural networks to account for complex temporal dynamics. The classification results over the three areas showed accuracies higher than 95.5% over validation sets composed of in-situ checks never used during the training process. The proposed methodology outperformed standard approaches that not consider the spatial variability of the training samples, and revealed very good agreement concerning the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) of Spain. In addition, the developed chain proposes the novelty of using the kernel normalized difference vegetation index (kNDVI) as a predictor in a LU classification processing chain. Including the kNDVI instead of the traditional NDVI outperformed the classification accuracy in all metrics and classes. Ultimately, the obtained classifications were used for assessing the 2020 farmers' declarations in the three study areas. The declarations showed a level of agreement concerning the proposed approach near 99%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the effects of climate change on Greek agriculture, by evaluating and refining the current policy measures and interventions to address them through the lens and funding opportunities of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2023–2027. To this end, we conducted a diagnostic analysis of the current strategic framework in Greece and provided policy recommendations around five key areas: education, consulting services, agri-food cooperation, coupling of innovation, and digitalization, as well as risk management on climate change. Overall, we found that the national strategic framework is consistent with the objectives and priorities of European policies regarding the environment and the climate, but targeted actions are needed to enable the management of the Greek agricultural sector while addressing the risks of climate change, environmental degradation, and the excessive use of natural resources. The findings highlight the importance of much-needed revisions in national strategic planning. We have suggested key interventions and actions for dealing with climate change with regards to Greek agriculture and the overarching goals of the new CAP to promote sustainability, knowledge, and innovation in the agri-food sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The consumption of organic food in the EU remains very low, mainly as a result of the higher price of such food compared to conventional products. To determine consumer preferences, 415 consumer surveys were conducted in Madrid (Spain), using tomatoes as the reference for analysis given their significant market recognition in terms of price, types, origin, and production systems. The data analysis was carried out using conjoint analysis and consumer segmentation techniques, maximum willingness to pay, and market share simulations using the maximum utility method. In addition, to better characterize the consumers, their attitudes towards the environment and their lifestyle indicators were defined. Consequently, 25.2% of consumers were found to be the most willing to pay a higher price to consume organic food. The simulation verified that price is the main problem as regards consuming organic food, with a preference for local markets being identified. In general, it is observed that these consumers have a more positive attitude towards the environment and healthier lifestyles. The implementation of the European Green Deal may have the impact of an additional increase in prices owing to higher production costs. To reduce this impact, it would be advisable to stimulate the economic activity of local markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Southern Europe, heavily dependent on the sectors of Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Uses (AFOLU), is in a uniquely vulnerable position in relation to the effects of climate change. The implications of these changes are profound and complex, extending beyond the environment, penetrating socioeconomic structures, and influencing the relations that define them. Fundamental to this discussion is the crucial role of soil as a resource. When managed sustainably, soil provides vital ecosystem services. These include carbon sequestration, water retention, improvement of ecosystem resilience, and production of food and raw materials, all of which contribute significantly to mitigating the causes and adapting to the effects of a changing climate. Unfortunately, unsustainable practices such as overgrazing, deforestation, and unsuitable cropping threaten the health of the soil. These practices decrease soil fertility and its ability to support plant growth, simultaneously increasing the risk of erosion and other forms of land degradation. To address these challenges, Southern European countries must adopt recommended management practices for soil conservation and recovery. These practices may include integrated systems, conservation farming, more efficient irrigation systems, among others. Additionally, it is necessary to rethink planning and land management to align land-use change trajectories with ecosystem capacity and resilience. In this sense, the adequate allocation of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) incentives is key to preventing erosion and land degradation that occur in some areas of the Mediterranean Basin. Furthermore, the inclusion of soil carbon sequestration objectives in agricultural and environmental policies is a necessary measure for the recovery of degraded ecosystems and for adaptation to desertification. By focusing on soil ecosystem services, Southern European countries can take proactive measures to build a more sustainable and resilient future for their citizens, emphasizing the importance of combining mitigation and adaptation efforts to enhance the resilience of communities and ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of food security is relevant for all countries, but it does not have a universal solution. In particular, this is confirmed by the countries of the European Union, which, despite a common food policy, demonstrate different levels of food security. Using their example, this study aims to develop recommendations for improving food security in the context of sustainable development. The study is based on quantitative approaches and analyses the main food security indicators of the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway, based on data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. This study proves the need for more detailed development of individual development strategies in the field of food security in the context of sustainable development. The main differences between the food systems of the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway in terms of average food energy needs, GDP per capita, the number of obese adults and food security per capita were identified. There have also been changes in the food security systems of the Netherlands and Norway, which have reduced the volatility of food supply per capita in 2010-2020. EU countries need to stabilise volatility to increase food security. EU Member States’ attempts to implement new food security policies must consider the local specificities of food systems. Despite the common problems of waste, nutrition of different social groups, obesity, equal access to food, sustainable production, implementation of research and development of the food security programme, the degree of these challenges varies. The practical value of the study lies in the empirical assessment of the state of food security on the example of the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway in 2000-2020, which proves the need for differentiation in the common food security policy

The aim of this paper is to outline the relationship between income and assets when taking into account selected models of farms' functioning. The following farm models are examined: traditional, industrial, sustainable, and organic. Panel models were used that were based on the results of individual unpublished data for farms in Poland that undertook agricultural accounting according to the Farm Accounting Data Network (FADN) principles from 2004 to 2019. It was found that industrial farms had the clearest income-assets relationship, while traditional farms had the least clear relationship. The value of land, as a component of assets, was found to weaken the income-assets relationship. In consequence, the value of assets increased faster than income. Thus, the farmers are becoming wealthier in terms of the value of their assets, but this is not reflected in their income.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a European policy created in the early 1960s to address the food and economic problems affecting European society and the agricultural sector in particular. Throughout its history, the various reforms carried out in this policy have oriented it towards a reduction of direct aid to farmers’ production (due to its excessive cost, among other reasons), in favor of income-related aid. In recent years, the agricultural sector in Extremadura has received CAP aid in a very unequal manner, with a more significant concentration in the agricultural areas where intensive production has been established as a base and where there is a larger population. Thus, the main objective of this research is to analyze the spatial relationships between CAP subsidies and other demographic, economic and social context variables. To achieve the proposed objective, a spatial regression model, namely Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR), has been calculated to determine the relationship between the amounts received from the CAP and the socioeconomic situation of each of the municipalities in the region. The results show a concentration of this aid in the most dynamic areas, with municipalities with a larger population and a more productive agriculture, mainly related to irrigated farms.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) represents the core of EU strategy to develop the rural sector and to support the European farmers. This long reformed policy has shifted over the years to better adapt to undergoing challenges and new priorities of EU’s rural space, evolving from granting direct support for production to a policy that encourages the European farmers to adopt climate friendly agricultural policies. After a brief review of the stages completed by the last reform of the CAP, this article sets out to analyse the objectives of the recently-adopted CAP, the innovative elements introduced, as well as the way in which the new approach will contribute to the achievement of the environmental protection and climate change goals, using as an example a relevant case study – the impact of these reforms and new regulations in Germany. In the second part of the analysis, we will highlight the potential implications of the CAP green architecture on the German agricultural sector, given the particularities of the federal structure and pointing out at the same time several relevant indicators – the evolution of direct payments (DP), of eco-schemes and of market measures.

Agricultural landscapes are the result of the long-term, complex, and intermingled interfaces between nature and culture. Among the stakeholders involved in the production of agri-environmental and climate services, farmers play a crucial role, and their contribution should be duly acknowledged to promote sustainable land management. Therefore, this research aims to contribute to the participatory design of agri-environmental contracts to incentivize landscape and biodiversity practices. To achieve this goal, 13 innovation labs with multi-actor perspective were established across nine different European countries. These groups envisioned a future sustainable landscape characterized by diversity and balance of economic, socio-cultural, and environmental components. Trust-based networks and effective communication channels emerge as vital components for the success of sustainable local production systems. Practitioners emphasize the significance of European-level policies in effecting transformative change and influencing farmers'willingness to contribute to both food production and environmental public goods. They defined concrete contract features such as public funding, hybrid payments, and the presence of intermediaries for the potential of agri-environmental measures. Notably, practitioners perceive a wide range of benefits associated with the implementation of agri-environmental measures, extending beyond economic compensation. Gaining a deeper understanding of practitioners' perceptions of their territories and agri-environmental measures is crucial for policymakers to design tailored and appealing programs that resonate with practitioners'needs. • Agroecosystem living labs are valuable approach for facilitating transition. • Trust-based networks and communication channels enable transformative change. • Agri-environmental measures yield benefits beyond economic compensation. • Preferred contract features are public funding, hybrid payments and presence of intermediaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the effects of climate change on Greek agriculture, by evaluating and refining the current policy measures and interventions to address them through the lens and funding opportunities of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2023–2027. To this end, we conducted a diagnostic analysis of the current strategic framework in Greece and provided policy recommendations around five key areas: education, consulting services, agri-food cooperation, coupling of innovation, and digitalization, as well as risk management on climate change. Overall, we found that the national strategic framework is consistent with the objectives and priorities of European policies regarding the environment and the climate, but targeted actions are needed to enable the management of the Greek agricultural sector while addressing the risks of climate change, environmental degradation, and the excessive use of natural resources. The findings highlight the importance of much-needed revisions in national strategic planning. We have suggested key interventions and actions for dealing with climate change with regards to Greek agriculture and the overarching goals of the new CAP to promote sustainability, knowledge, and innovation in the agri-food sector.

The aim of this paper is to outline the relationship between income and assets when taking into account selected models of farms' functioning. The following farm models are examined: traditional, industrial, sustainable, and organic. Panel models were used that were based on the results of individual unpublished data for farms in Poland that undertook agricultural accounting according to the Farm Accounting Data Network (FADN) principles from 2004 to 2019. It was found that industrial farms had the clearest income-assets relationship, while traditional farms had the least clear relationship. The value of land, as a component of assets, was found to weaken the income-assets relationship. In consequence, the value of assets increased faster than income. Thus, the farmers are becoming wealthier in terms of the value of their assets, but this is not reflected in their income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union (EU) member states are expected to develop new procedures, based on automatic earth observation data analysis, for the management and control of direct aids to the farmers, as part of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform of 2020. Here, we propose an operational monitoring system based on Sentinel-2 surface reflectance (SR) data and machine learning (ML) algorithms, consisting of a hierarchical approach triggering 3 color-coded warning alerts to distinguish among compliant (green), non-compliant (red), and inconclusive (yellow) parcels comparatively to the farmer’s declaration. A Random Forest (RF) model is applied to a 5-day interpolated SR time series to generate a preliminary crop map, where all the parcels whose predicted and declared crop type match are flagged as compliant. Next, a refinement procedure is adopted to improve the discrimination between temporary and permanent crops. At this stage, VI temporal metrics and texture are used as input to a Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier trained using only the previous compliant parcels. Through a set of decision rules, SVM crop class predictions are flagged as compliant, non-compliant and inconclusive. The system was tested for a significant area in mainland Portugal, using the 2019 Land Parcel Information System (LPIS) data. The system returned 96.5%, 2.5% and 1% of the parcels as compliant, inconclusive, and non-compliant, respectively. Comparison with field inspections for the subsidy control of 2019 revealed that only 1.1% of the correct declarations were classified by the system as non-compliant (5% as admissible value), while less than 5% of the real non-compliant declarations passed through the system (10–20%).

Cover crops and flower strips are used in agricultural fields as part of integrated pest management strategies. However, their potential as secondary hosts of soilborne pathogens such as Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in oilseed rape cultivation is not fully comprehended. In the current study, we evaluated the effect of pathogen virulence on the development of Sclerotinia stem/leaf rot and sclerotia production in 33 plant species from 11 botanical families using two S. sclerotiorum isolates. Furthermore, the effect of sclerotial size on carpogenic germination was studied. Results showed that the pathogen's virulence significantly affected the occurrence and development of Sclerotinia stem/leaf rot and the subsequent production of sclerotia. Among all plant species tested, 26 were more susceptible to the highly aggressive S . sclerotiorum isolate, which produced more and bigger sclerotia in 17 species than the less aggressive isolate. Moreover, a stronger positive correlation was found between the relative lesion length of plants inoculated with the highly aggressive isolate and the number of sclerotia produced by this isolate (Spearman's rank correlation coefficient [ r s ] = 0.572; P = 0.004). Additionally, we found that larger and heavier sclerotia produced stipes and apothecia earlier and at a greater rate than smaller ones. The heavyweight class had the highest carpogenic germination rate (82.4%), followed by the average (67.2%) and lightweight classes (59.5%). Our findings highlight the need for further investigation into the potential risks associated with cover crops, weeds, and flower strips as secondary hosts of soilborne pathogens in agricultural fields., Competing Interests: The author(s) declare no conflict of interest.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) represents the core of EU strategy to develop the rural sector and to support the European farmers. This long reformed policy has shifted over the years to better adapt to undergoing challenges and new priorities of EU's rural space, evolving from granting direct support for production to a policy that encourages the European farmers to adopt climate friendly agricultural policies. After a brief review of the stages completed by the last reform of the CAP, this article sets out to analyse the objectives of the recently-adopted CAP, the innovative elements introduced, as well as the way in which the new approach will contribute to the achievement of the environmental protection and climate change goals, using as an example a relevant case study -- the impact of these reforms and new regulations in Germany. In the second part of the analysis, we will highlight the potential implications of the CAP green architecture on the German agricultural sector, given the particularities of the federal structure and pointing out at the same time several relevant indicators -- the evolution of direct payments (DP), of eco-schemes and of market measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aquaponics is a food production system which connects recirculating aquaculture (fish) to hydroponics (plants) systems. Although aquaponics has the potential to improve soil conditions by reducing erosion and nutrient loss and has been shown to reduce food production related carbon emissions by up to 73%, few commercial aquaponics projects in the EU and UK have been successful. Key barriers to commercial success are insufficient initial investment, an uncertain and complex regulatory environment, and the lack of projects operating on a large scale able to demonstrate profitability. In this paper, we use the UK as a case study to discuss the legal and economic barriers to the success of commercial aquaponics in the EU. We also propose three policies: (1) making aquaponics eligible for the new system of Environmental Land Management grants; (2) making aquaponics eligible for organic certification; and (3) clarifying and streamlining the aquaponics licence application process. The UK's departure from the EU presents a unique opportunity to review agricultural regulations and subsidies, which in turn could provide evidence that similar reforms are needed in the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the capitalization of farm subsidies in Italy by relying on a novel approach based on the Grouped Fixed Effect (GFE) estimator. This methodology allows us to account for the regional unobserved time-varying determinants of the Italian land values. Results show that the elasticity of land price with respect to coupled and decoupled subsidies is below one. Particularly, for the latter payments, the degree of capitalization declines with decreasing competition in farmland markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The strong impact of agriculture on the environment has caused the integration of environmental objectives into the Common Agricultural Policy. In parallel with the development of CAP, attempts have been made to make agricultural production more ecologically oriented. The subject of this paper explores the environmental performance at the level of the European Union, with special emphasis on the environmental performance of the agriculture. The environmental performances of agriculture will be analyzed on the basis of the data on Environmental Performances Index (EPI) for the issue area - Agriculture. The aim of this research is to classify the European Union countries into homogenous groups according to the level of achieved environmental performance of agriculture.

Common agricultural policy (CAP) is the most dynamic segment of the EU legal legacy and the driving force of integration. The role and significance of this sector in the EUs overall economy is to ensure the health of the population, rural development and environmental protection. Agricultural policy has emerged because of longstanding discussions about the need for the national agricultural policies of the countries of Western Europe to harmonize with each other, in order to ensure additional supply of food to the European population after World War II. Because of the exceptional importance of agriculture for economic stability and sustainable development, harmonization national policies with EU Common Agricultural Policy are essential. The specificities of national agriculture must be adequately respected in the legal and institutional arrangements that the country will adopt and apply in the EU accession process; otherwise, there would be deep and far-reaching consequences for those parts of national agribusiness that cannot fulfil the EU requirements. In this paper, throw the analytical and comparative method will be discussed the EU standards in this area, the harmonization level of Serbian agricultural policy with EU standards with special emphasis on negotiating chapter 11 and the institutional and legislative constraints in the EU accession process.

Highlights • Farmland loss is a critical issue, especially in the Global North and Europe. • Integrated planning solutions to reduce this phenomenon are lacking. • An index to identify the urbanisation risk areas in farmland is proposed. • Zoning, physical features and financial aid are considered as risk factors. • The index could be used for spatial planning and rural development. Abstract Identifying and protecting vulnerable agricultural areas is a major priority, especially in Europe, in the context of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and zero net land degradation target. Although it has generated serious public attention for its implications for rural development, bio-economy and land use development and change, the vulnerability of farmland in the face of competing land uses has been an issue that few studies have considered in a holistic way. On the one hand, effective planning tools are lacking, especially in terms of tools to identify urbanisation risk areas. On the other hand, in some cases, there are not even comprehensive government procedures to support the protection of vulnerable farmland and encourage sustainable development of farm activities. In this paper, the author shows how integrated planning tools and methods are probably the most promising solutions to protect farmland and strengthen its cultural and socio-ecological values. The paper focuses on an index to identify risk areas (particularly by using an Italian case study), in order to respond to the current operational gap, as well as to support the difficult decision process oriented to overcome land related conflicts. The index could be used at several decision-making levels and in many sectoral plans, especially in the frame of European spatial planning and rural policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Common agricultural policy (CAP) is the most dynamic segment of the EU legal legacy and the driving force of integration. The role and significance of this sector in the EU's overall economy is to ensure the health of the population, rural development and environmental protection. Agricultural policy has emerged because of longstanding discussions about the need for the national agricultural policies of the countries of Western Europe to harmonize with each other, in order to ensure additional supply of food to the European population after World War II. Because of the exceptional importance of agriculture for economic stability and sustainable development, harmonization national policies with EU Common Agricultural Policy are essential. The specificities of national agriculture must be adequately respected in the legal and institutional arrangements that the country will adopt and apply in the EU accession process; otherwise, there would be deep and far-reaching consequences for those parts of national agribusiness that cannot fulfill the EU requirements. In this paper, throw the analytical and comparative method will be discussed the EU standards in this area, the harmonization level of Serbian agricultural policy with EU standards with special emphasis on negotiating chapter 11 and the institutional and legislative constraints in the EU accession process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodiversity of European cultural landscapes is threatened by land abandonment and intensification. While the conservation benefits of traditional management practices have been long acknowledged, recognition of traditional knowledge started only recently in Europe. Respect for the holders of traditional knowledge (TK holders) themselves lags even more behind, often leading to social injustices. Social injustices towards TK holders span from disrespect and misrepresentation, invisibility, misunderstanding, economic and political vulnerability, unethical collaborations, rights violations, disconnection, uncontextualized education to lack of inclusivity – leading to neglect of TK holders in conservation science, policy and practice. Resolving these social injustices would benefit both people and nature. Benefits of resolving injustices include better cooperation in conservation management, mutual understanding, improved representation and participation, increased respect, economic and legal security, strengthened land stewardship, better tradition-based conservation innovations, and more appropriate management regulations. Best practices are presented to inspire ways to foster recognition for TK holders and their knowledge, worldviews and values, promote the inclusion of plurality of values and voices in the media and school curricula, encourage meaningful participatory decision making, mobilise strategies to re-design and decolonize financial support mechanisms, decrease bureaucratic loads, and promote TK holder-led conservation activities. Supporting TK holders and keeping traditional land management practices alive should be considered as a social justice imperative of great strategic importance for long-term social-ecological resilience in Europe. • European cultural landscapes are threatened by the erosion of traditional knowledge. • Traditional knowledge holders face social injustices harmful also for conservation. • Social injustices include disrespect, misrepresentation, and perverse regulations. • Meaningful collaborations, heard voices and fair partnerships can resolve injustice. • Resolving social injustices would benefit both people and nature in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The empirical literature suggests that farmland prices and rents capitalise agricultural subsidies and that the 2003 reform of the EU Common Agricultural Policy, which decoupled subsidies from production and attached them to land, may have increased the extent of the phenomenon. Employing a farm‐level dataset, the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) for Italy, we investigate this issue while accounting for selectivity, endogeneity and unobserved individual heterogeneity. To understand the impact of the reform we compare the estimates of capitalisation rate for decoupled payments with those for coupled payments. After correcting for unobserved individual heterogeneity and selectivity, our results reveal no capitalisation of coupled payments and only limited capitalisation of decoupled area payments into farmland rents in Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article intends to compute agriculture technical efficiency scores of 27 European countries during the period 2005-2012, using both data envelopment analysis (DEA) and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) with a generalized cross-entropy (GCE) approach, for comparison purposes. Afterwards, by using the scores as dependent variable, we apply quantile regressions using a set of possible influencing variables within the agricultural sector able to explain technical efficiency scores. Results allow us to conclude that although DEA and SFA are quite distinguishable methodologies, and despite attained results are different in terms of technical efficiency scores, both are able to identify analogously the worst and better countries. They also suggest that it is important to include resources productivity and subsidies in determining technical efficiency due to its positive and significant exerted influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]