Energy-sustainable agriculture in the European Union member states: Overall productivity growth and structural efficiency

The use of energy in agriculture is important to ensure modernization of agricultural practices and boost the productivity. However, one also needs to take the unintended outcomes of the increasing energy intensity into account. This paper looks into the productivity growth measures adjusted for the energy-related GHG emission and their application for the European Union (EU) agriculture. The Common Agricultural Policy implemented in the EU requires evidence-based policy guidelines. The country-level data for 2003-2019 are analysed by means of the data envelopment analysis. Thus, the aggregate measures of the productivity growth are established at the EU level. The results indicate that, after accounting for the energy-related GHG emission and structural in-efficiency, there has been a decline in the agricultural multi-factor productivity of some 16%.

Automated summary

This paper examines the importance of energy use in agriculture for modernization and productivity. However, it also highlights the unintended consequences of increased energy intensity.