| RECONCILIATION OF CROPS AND LIVESTOCK ON SMALL-SCALE FARMS IN HUNGARY: A CASE STUDY ON ECOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY |
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| by |
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| Csaba B. Illés, Gödöllõ Agricultural University |
| László Podmaniczky, Gödöllõ Agricultural University |
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| JEL classification : P230, P270, O130 |
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| Abstract |
| The paper focuses on an unfavourable agricul¬tural region of Hungary and presents a model which integrates some ecological and economic principles of sustainability into the agricultural production of the region. The farming model has been prepared considering the current farming methods and the natural condi¬tions. Enterprise/farming strategies are evaluated with indices characterising sustainability of the ecological environment, as well as with the tools of the traditional eco¬nomics. With the help of the model the cost-return relations and interactions of different agricultural activities are analysed, and the profit-making potentialities of each alternative are identified. Using sensitivity analysis methods the “reaction” of the alternatives on the negative eco¬nomic changes which are likely to occur is examined. The support-demand and economic sustainability of the alterna¬tives were compared to investment-profitability. The analysis focuses, too, on the changes of nitrogen balance of each successive alternative. |
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