2 The agricultural sector in Europe

2.1        European agriculture and value chains

2.1.1 Agriculture in the European economy

About 10 million farms existed in the EU-27 in 2017, contributing to 1,1% of the European GDP and 4,5% of total employment (equivalent to 8,8 million full time workers) (ESTAT, 2020k). The total value of the agriculture sector lies at around EUR 405 billion in 2018, 53% from crop production and 38,5% from animal products, in particular milk and pigs (ESTAT, 2020k). Agriculture generated economic activity for 280 000 companies in the food and beverage manufacturing industry and 920 000 wholesalers and retailers (ESTAT, 2020k). The food and drink industry itself is an important manufacturing sector in Europe, contributing to form a network of small and medium enterprises including in rural areas. The processing of food nearly doubles the value of the primary agricultural goods, with an estimated value of EUR 860 billion in 2018 (ESTAT, 2020k).

Agriculture provides important functions to the European economy by producing food, fibre, feed and energy for Europe. Agriculture and the food and beverage industry in particular have a central role in EU-27 bioeconomy, representing 78% of its employment and 66% of its added value (Ronzon et al., 2020). Agriculture also contributes to supply the manufacture of bio-based textiles, of plastics and chemicals (including pharmaceuticals), and of liquid biofuels, which accounted together for 4,6% of employment of the bioeconomy and 5,6% of its added value (equivalent to 797,000 workers and EUR 34 billion)(Ronzon et al., 2020).

Agricultural goods represent 8% of the EU’s international trades in goods (ESTAT, 2020j). The EU is the world's largest agri-food exporter, contributing to 20% of world food and drink exports in 2017. EU international trade in agricultural products has continued to grow, doubling in value since 2002 (ESTAT, 2020j). In value, the EU is a net exporter of processed food and animal products, but it runs trade deficits in vegetable products (ESTAT, 2020j). Large exports include beverages and spirits (e.g. wine from grapes), cereals and cereal products, dairy and meat produces. In addition to tropical products, the EU mainly imports animal feed and ingredients used in processing such as palm oil.

2.1.2  Agricultural land use and production

Agricultural land covers 42% of EU39 terrestrial area or a total of 237 million hectares (EEA, 2019d). Most of the agricultural land is used for arable crops, in particular cereals, and for permanent crops, such as olives, grapes, and fruits (25% of EU39 terrestrial area), the rest being used as grassland and in more complex agricultural landscapes with mixed land uses (17%). The distribution and importance of different land use classes varies considerably between Member States (Figure 2.1). The landscape in countries such as Denmark, Hungary and Poland is strongly influenced by arable crops, which cover more than half of the land area. Ireland, on the other hand, is mainly characterised by pasture farming. In countries such as Sweden and Finland, but also Greece and Croatia, over 60% of the land area is covered by natural land use classes.

 

Agriculture accounts for the majority of biomass supply in Europe. In the EU-28 in 2014, it represented 63% of the total biomass supply, mostly in the form of food and feed to animals, while bioenergy production and biomaterials (e.g. textiles, plastics and chemicals) accounted for respectively 2% and 0,1% of agricultural biomass (Gurria et al., 2017). The market for biomaterial and bioenergy is expected to grow in response to the shift away from fossil-based products. This may lead to increased competition for agricultural goods between the food and non-food sectors, although the use biomass unfit for food and feed consumption, such as crop residues and biowaste could mitigate this impact (EEA, 2018e).

The majority of the EU-28 agricultural output is associated with crop production at about EUR 214 billion (ESTAT, 2019a).  The relative importance of different crop production in the EU can be judged using the produced weight of dry matter (Camia et al., 2018). It shows that a large concentration of crop production in few varieties. For the period 2006-2015 in the EU-28, 40% of agricultural biomass was associated to less than 10 crops, mostly cereals (e.g. wheat, maize and barley) and plants harvested green (e.g. green maize, temporary grasses and Lucerne), as well as sugar and starchy crops (i.e. sugar beet and potatoes) and oil bearing crops (e.g. rapeseed, sunflower). Permanent crops and vegetables accounted for about 6%, while industrial crops, such as fibre flax and cotton, represented 0,2% and energy crops 0,04%.

The EU-28 is also major producer of meat and dairy products, with a total output of EUR 156 billion (ESTAT, 2019a). Despite declines in recent years with bovines, sheep and goat populations, livestock units remain significant. In the EU-28 in 2018, pig population was at 148 million heads, followed by bovine animals (87 million), and sheep and goat (98 million) (ESTAT, 2019a). Including poultry, the total production of meat has increased since 2010 to reach nearly 50 million tonnes of carcass weight in 2018, mostly from pig, poultry and bovine animals). The European agricultural landscape is highly influenced by meat production. An estimated 46% of Utilised Agricultural Area (UAA) of EU-28 is used as arable and grass-based fodder areas to produce feed for livestock (ESTAT, 2020b). European livestock production also rely on feed from extra-European countries (see Chapter 5).

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2.1.3  Trends in agricultural production and land use

It is commonly agreed that current production levels are the result of a long-term post-war policy paradigm based on increasing agricultural productivity, securing food supplies to European nations and increasing the competitiveness of European agriculture on international markets. A combination of structural adjustments and strong market incentives were used across Europe  which led to constant growth in European agricultural production until the 1980s (Martín-Retortillo and Pinilla, 2015).

The significance of the growth in European agricultural production can be represented livestock units on the one hand, and area under production together with yields on the other. Figure 2.2shows that:

  • Livestock units in Europe more than doubled between 1960 and 2014 with poultry and pig production showing the highest increases, more than six times and more than twice respectively.
  • Cereal production in Europe (EU-28) has tripled, while the area harvested has decreased by about 10%.
  • The area under vegetable production has decreased by 44%, while the yield per hectare has more than doubled.

 

Overall, the increase in livestock production slowed in the 1980s due to macro-economic changes, in particular due to oversupply on the European market and changed incentives from the Common Agricultural Policy, including the introduction of milk quotas in 1984 (Martín-Retortillo and Pinilla, 2015). Livestock production continued however to increase in the Mediterranean countries due to the adoption of intensive livestock breeding processes, while it decreased by more than 50% in eastern Europe between the 1980s and 2000s (Martín-Retortillo and Pinilla, 2015).

In contrast, agricultural land has shown a continuous decrease since the 1950s, due to several factors including rural exodus, abandonment of less economically viable farms and increased productivity on land under cultivation (Martín-Retortillo and Pinilla, 2015). Loss of agricultural land is still ongoing, with a total annual loss of agricultural area was about 80,000 ha/year on average between 2000 and 2018 (EEA, 2019d) . This loss is primarily to the expansion of artificial surfaces.

In addition to the overall decline in area, a large number of internal conversions also has taken place. A loss of 12% in the area of permanent grassland has been observed in EC-9 between 1975 and 1995, equivalent to a loss over 4 million hectares of permanent grassland (Gibon, 2005). The same area of land could have been used for different agricultural activities during that 18-year period.

The loss of agricultural land since the 1950s has been largely compensated by increases in yields, which overall led to a significant increase in arable and permanent crop production (Martín-Retortillo and Pinilla, 2015). Nowadays average yields in Europe are on average 60% more than the global average (Erisman et al., 2011). Recent years have seen a stabilisation of yields, and in some case a decline (Brisson et al., 2010; Grassini et al., 2013).

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2.1.4 Land productivity and the impacts of climate change

Future agricultural productivity will be influenced by many factors. Some of the key threats include land degradation through soil erosion, land abandonment and soil sealing, and impacts of climate change in particular increased frequency of extreme events such as droughts and heatwaves (Cherlet et al., 2013).

An estimated 17.9 % of agricultural areas and natural grassland, equivalent to 35 million ha, were affected by soil erosion in the EU-27, at an average rate of 3,4 t/ha/year (ESTAT, 2020g). Several countries in southern and south-eastern parts of Europe have significantly higher erosion rates, in particular Italy, Slovenia, Malta, Greece, Spain, Cyprus and Romania (ESTAT, 2020g). Topography and climatic conditions influence soil erosion rates, as are field management practices on arable land and permanent crop areas (e.g. tillage practice soil cover), and livestock density (Vanwalleghem et al., 2017).

The greater use of machinery through e.g. tractors can also lead to greater soil compaction and erosion. Estimates show that the number of tractors per worker has increased from an average of 5 in 1950 to 134 in 2005 in Nordic Europe. Nevertheless, current trends suggest a slight decline in the area affected by soil erosion (ESTAT, 2020g).

Abandonment of agricultural land has been observed across Europe, driven by biophysical, agro-economic, demographic, geographic and macro-economic factors (ESTAT, 2020d). Land abandonment has particularly affected remote and mountainous regions, and eastern Europe following the political changes at the end of the 1980s. Some countries such as Slovakia and Poland have seen decline of 20% of cropland (Keenleyside and Tucker, 2010).

Future projections suggest an acceleration of land abandonment, with about 11% of total UAA of EU-28 at risk of being abandoned (equivalent to 20 million ha) between 2015 and 2030, in particular in parts of Spain, Poland, France, and Slovakia (Perpiña Castillo et al., 2018).In comparison, it is estimated that the loss of agricultural land to urban areas will concern 0.6% of UAA (Perpiña Castillo et al., 2018).

Impacts of changes in temperature and precipitation is likely to increasingly influence agricultural production differently across Europe (EEA, 2017, 2019a). Increased temperatures might lead to longer growing seasons in northern regions, while further exacerbating water availability and drought events in other regions. Crop yields are therefore expected to increasingly vary from year to year as a result of extreme weather events and other factors, such as pests and diseases, thus increasing the sector's vulnerability to further climate impacts without adaptation (Kovats et al., 2014).

Overall, recent estimates suggest an increase of non-irrigated wheat yields in northern Europe, but a decrease of 12% in southern Europe (Feyen et al., 2020). The same study estimates a decrease of more than 10% of irrigated grain maize yields in southern Europe. Without irrigation, declines of over 20% are projected for all EU countries, with crop losses of up to 80% in some southern European countries.

With regards to livestock, higher temperatures and the increasing risk of droughts are expected to reduce livestock production through negative impacts on grassland productivity and animal health and welfare. The increased growing season for crops and grasslands may boost livestock system production in northern Europe, but across Europe changes in the distribution of pathogens and pathogen vectors present challenges.

In addition, intestinal parasites and insect annoyance may affect animal production negatively. Also, there is a projected increase in rainfall (leading to more flooding) in northern Europe, which may pose challenges for grazing livestock and harvesting grass, owing to the accessibility of land and the declining soil fertility through soil compaction(EEA, 2019a).

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2.2        Agricultural systems and practices, and their impact on water

2.2.1        Characterising agricultural systems

Farms can be characterised as “systems” describing their type of crop and livestock production, the resources and technologies used in their management, the production techniques and strategies - also called “farm practices”- and the nature of relationship of the farm with its biophysical, social and economic environment (NRC, 2010).

Recent debates on the impact of agriculture have sought to distinguish between “conventional” farming and “sustainable agriculture”. Conventional farming systems can be characterised alongside the following (NRC, 2010):

  • Crop production is particularly resource intensive e.g. in inorganic fertilisers and synthetic pesticides to increase soil fertility and yields. Crop rotations are shorter and focus on the production of marketable commodities.
  • Livestock production benefits from higher stocking densities and may rely on partial or full confinement of animals in housing. Grazing is totally or mostly replaced by harvested forage and grain crops. Veterinary products and other medication such as growth hormones are used to boost productivity.

In a historical perspective, the above practices were widely adopted during the productivist, which effectively secured an increasing supply of food in Europe. The associated intensification of farm practices nevertheless had various impacts on the environment, including aquatic ecosystems (Matson, 1997; Stoate et al., 2009; Ruiz-Martinez et al., 2015).

A large number of terms have been used in Europe to describe different forms of sustainable agricultural systems (Table 2.1). More sustainable farming systems depart from conventional farming practices by adopting more systematically agro-ecological techniques, which aim to optimise the use of natural resources, enhance biological processes in the soil, and improve biomass, nutrient, carbon and water cycles (Wezel et al., 2014; FAO, 2018a; EIP-AGRI, 2020). Sustainable agricultural systems aim to reduce the reliance on off-farm resources and synthetic inputs, and increase their resilience from external disturbances and shocks, such as climate change, notably by diversifying farm activities and production (chapter 4.1).

In the recent Farm to Fork Strategy and the Biodiversity Strategy 2030, reference is made to organic farming (Box 2.1) and precision farming (Box 2.2).

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 Box 2.1 Organic farming

The goal of organic farming is develop farming systems that minimise impacts on natural resources (including biodiversity) and which have a high animal welfare. This is achieved by use of natural substances and processes to farm inputs. Organic farmers rely more on management practices which are based on mechanical, agronomic, or biological methods and, where possible, avoid the use of synthetic pesticides, fertilizers or feed. Organic management practices include the use of natural (or naturally derived) substances, diversification and mixing of crops (growing two or more crops on the same plot), complex crop rotation patterns, flower strips and ecological compensation areas and hedges, and a certain tolerance to weed growth that doesn’t directly affect the harvest. Thereby natural processes that reduce the growth of unwanted herbivores and pests are supported and natural antagonists are built up, rather than combatting infestations when they have already occurred. Preference is given to crop varieties and livestock breeds which are adapted to local conditions and have a better resistance to pests.

EU regulates the principles of organic farming through comparable standards and stipulates that pre-packaged organic foodstuffs originating or sold in the EU must be labelled with the EU organic farming logo. According to this legislation, organic farmers in the EU may only use authorized farm inputs (EU, 2018a).

In 2018, Organic farming covered 13.4 million hectares of agricultural land in the EU-27 ad UK, corresponding to 7.5 % of the total utilised agricultural area. The countries with the highest shares of organic farming were Austria, Estonia and Sweden. In each of these countries the organic share was above 20 % of the total agricultural area (ESTAT, 2020l). With retail sales amounting to 34.3 billion Euro in 2017, Europe is the world’s second largest consumer of organic goods EC.

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Box 2.2 Precision Agriculture

Precision Agriculture (PA) or precision farming is a management approach based on observation, measurement, and responses to spatial and temporal variability in crops, fields and animals. PA aims to adapt agricultural inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides, water, feed and veterinary medicine to the real-time needs of plants and animals as well as agricultural practices such as tillage, sowing and harvesting to spatial variability. For this purpose a wide range of digital technologies are used including GPS and remote sensing systems, new sensor technologies as well as drones and robots. Rather than applying the same amount of fertilisers, pesticides or water over an entire agricultural field, information on e.g. soil type, soil moisture, nutrient availability and plant health are collected. Decision support systems can analyses the data in order to provide the farmer with precise recommendations.

Therefore, PA can help producing more agricultural output (crop yields and animal performance) with less input (labour, fuel, agrochemicals, anti-biotics, feed) and thus optimize agricultural production in a resource and cost efficient way. At the same time, PA has the potential to reduce the environmental impact on soil and surface water contamination. With regard to the protection of water bodies and the reduction of water consumption, PA technologies can contribute as follows:

  • Automatic machine guidance and section control of sprayers and fertiliser can help to keep fertilisers and pesticides at recommended distances from waterways.
  • Automatic steering systems reduce field traffic and thus have the potential to reduce soil compaction, soil erosion and the runoff of surface water, sediments and fertilisers.
  • Sensors, remote sensing data and geo-mapping can be used to evaluate soil and crop health and adapt input and farming practices to local conditions. Therefore, these technics reduce the input of fertilizer and pesticides, prevent compaction and erosion and thus reduce the risk of water pollution and sedimentation.
  • Robots can help to optimise inputs (fertilisers, pesticides, insecticides) and reduce the impact on soils and water tables. In addition, robots are flexible and able to intervene only where they are needed. This minimizes soil compaction by heavy machines.

With precision irrigation, a precise amount of water can be applied to plants at precise times to optimize crop yield and water productivity. As a result, this technique leads to a reduction in water use. Water metering and measurement of water use can be considered as the basis for precision irrigation. PA can increase profitability for farmer due to increase yields with less input and labour force and furthermore provide farmers with information on the status of crops and animals to improve yield forecasts.

There might also be some disadvantages from the further expansion of PA, especially for small farmers. Compared to large farms, they often lack the investment capital or the knowledge to acquire PA technologies. This can lead to growing competitive pressure between small and large farms, which is expected to reduce the number of farms and increase farm size. Furthermore, the number of jobs on farm holdings is expected to decrease with human labour potentially being increasingly replaced by robots and computers. In some rural areas, the application of PA technologies is still hampered by a lack of suitable IT infrastructure.

Apart from these impacts, PA has a large potential to contribute to the sustainability of the agri-food sector under a growing demand for agricultural products and actively contribute to food security and food safety. PA can contribute to the transparency of the agricultural sector. Monitoring of crops and livestock will allow better predictions of agricultural product quality, making the food chain easier to monitor for producers, retailers and customers. Furthermore, the digitalisation of agriculture makes the environmental impacts more measurable and verifiable and support true cost accounting.

Source:EIP-AGRI, 2015

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2.2.1        Intensity of agricultural practices

Despite the apparent dichotomy between conventional and sustainable agricultural systems, which often dominates public debate, farms are best mapped against a gradient of more or less sustainable farm practices. The intensity of agricultural practices, and their level of can be characterised in several ways (Ruiz-Martinez et al., 2015):

  • The use in mineral and organic fertilisers and plant-protection products.
  • The extent of irrigated areas and the associated infrastructure such as storage schemes.
  • The use of drainage to increase land productivity and reclaim land.
  • The level of specialisation in production types, which describes the dominant activity in farm income, and indicates a simplification of production practices.

Use of mineral and organic fertilisers

Nitrogen and phosphorus are, together with potassium, the primary nutrients and key for plant growth and metabolic processes. Nutrient application on agricultural land contributes to higher crop yields and maintaining soil fertility (Lassaletta et al., 2014). Several techniques can be used to fertilise land, including the use of mineral (synthetic) fertilizers, the use of organic fertilizer, such as manure and sewage sludge, and biological fixation of nitrogen, for example through N-fixing crops such as legumes. Thanks to fertilization of agricultural land, it is estimated that one ha of land in Europe can now feed 4.3 persons as opposed to 1.9 persons in 1908 (Erisman et al., 2008).

The use of mineral fertilizers in the 20th century has increased dramatically in Europe (Figure x). It is estimated that the use of mineral fertilizer per ha increased five-fold between the 1950s to the 1980s at European level, with Eastern and Central Europe seeing the largest increase (26 times). Between the 1980s and 1990s, mineral fertiliser use decreased by about 30%, following a drop in the early 1990s with the changed political system but also thanks to a changing policy framework (see Chapter 4). Trends since 2008 do not show any further significant reduction in mineral fertiliser use and consumption has remained stable except yearly fluctuations mostly due to the price of fertilisers (ESTAT, 2020e). This hides large variations between countries.

Currently, Europe is responsible for 12% of the global mineral fertilizer consumption (FAO, 2019), and around 75% of the agricultural area in Europe is fertilized using mineral fertilisers (ESTAT, 2020c). Nitrogen fertiliser consumption per hectare of fertilised UAA currently stand at 77.2 kg per ha (ESTAT, 2020e), with the highest use (above 100 kg/ha) in the Czech Republic, Denmark and the Benelux countries. Phosphorous fertiliser consumption stands at 8,6 kg/ha, with the highest use in southern and eastern Europe, in particular Cyprus, Croatia and Hungary.

The use of organic fertiliser has also increased significantly through the 20th century, in particular the use of manure from a growing livestock population (Sutton et al., 2011). The use of manure is higher in countries with a large livestock production. Livestock density varies significantly across the EU (Figure x). Malta, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Cyprus and Ireland have the highest livestock densities. These countries also show the highest rates of manure input in relation to their agricultural area (over 98 kg N per ha per year) (ESTAT, 2020d). In contrast, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia have the lowest livestock densities and also belong to the countries with the lowest rates of manure input per ha (less than 30 kg N per ha per year).

Manure contains also various chemicals, in particular metals such as zinc, copper and in the case of liquid pig manure, arsenic- from livestock-feed additives, and residuals from antibiotics and anti-parasite medicines. Data shows that 40 to 90 per cent of the active ingredients of these medicines are excreted intact by the livestock (Sarmah et al., 2006; (KoƂodziejska et al., 2013). 

Data on other organic fertilisers (except manure) are lacking in many countries and the significance of these fertilisers in agriculture could be underestimated (ESTAT, 2017). For example, re-use of nitrogen from sewage sludge of wastewater treatment plants can be significant. It was estimated that nearly 50% of sewage sludge was disposed on agricultural land in 2011 in the EU-27 (Pellegrini et al., 2016).

Overall, nitrogen inputs to soils largely consist of mineral fertilisers (45%) and manure input (38%), followed by atmospheric deposition (8%) and biological nitrogen fixation (6%), (ESTAT, 2020c). Mineral fertilisers and manure accounted for more than 93 % of the phosphorus input to agricultural areas in EU-28 between 2010 and 2014. Other organic fertilisers, such as compost, sewage sludge and industrial waste, accounted for little more than 5 % of total phosphorus inputs (ESTAT, 2020f).

Use of plant-protection products

Plant-protection products such as pesticides and herbicides are substances used to prevent or control any pest causing harm during the production of agricultural products. The products contain at least one active substance and have one of the following functions:

  • protect plants or plant products against pests/diseases, before or after harvest;
  • influence the life processes of plants;
  • preserve plant products;
  • destroy or prevent growth of undesired plants or parts of plants.

Current information on the application of plant protection products across Europe remains very limited, which is why the total volume sold (or their value) are usually used as a proxy for quantifying application. In the EU-27, the total pesticide sale is around 360 000 tonnes per year (Figure 2.3). This has not changed between time period 2011 to 2018, although significant differences exist between member states with Cyprus, Austria, France and Slovakia showing the highest increase and Portugal, Ireland Czechia and Italy showing the largest decrease (ESTAT, 2020a).

 

Irrigated areas

In Europe, the main crop cultivation period takes place during spring and summer, which typically coincides with a high average water deficit between rainfall and landscape evapotranspiration. Water stress is detrimental to crops when it occurs at critical growth periods, such as flowering, seed formation or ripening. The sensitivity of the crop types to water shortages differs. Some crops can maintain relatively high yields, despite water stress conditions, whereas other crops may fail under similar conditions (e.g. fruits). Some of the most water demanding crops are wheat, barley and maize. Farmers may development irrigated areas to increase the productivity of their land or as an “insurance” against climate risks, to maintain yields and the quality of crops when rain lacks.

The share of permanently irrigated area in Europe is limited to 2% of land use in Europe (EEA39), and total irrigable area, i.e. agricultural area equipped for irrigation, represents 9% of UAA (in 2016), equivalent to 15. 5 million ha (ESTAT, 2019b). The irrigated area - the actual amount of land irrigated - is usually smaller and can vary significantly from year to year due to inter-annual variability in weather conditions, selected crop species to meet market demand, the irrigation strategy of the farmer, and the presence of legal restriction.

Irrigable and irrigated agricultural areas vary greatly among countries mainly because of regional climate and type of production. Overall, crop production in Europe is largely rainfed in the more temperate and humid countries of northern Europe, although irrigation may be used occasionally to complement rainwater. Pockets of intensively irrigated areas exist for example in The Netherlands which has a specialist vegetable and horticulture production. In southern Europe, irrigable and irrigated areas are more widely present, the largest share of irrigated areas compared to their UAA being in Malta, Greece, Cyprus and Italy. Rainfed production is limited to specific crop types, such as wheat, olives, vines and autumn vegetables, though many of these crops are also grown under irrigated conditions in order to increase yields. Irrigation can be an important source of added value in crop production. In Spain, for example, more than 60% of the total value of the country’s agricultural output comes from the 14% of irrigated agricultural land.

The area of irrigable agricultural land in some Member States has increased significantly since the 1960s. For example, the area in Italy has doubled and in Spain even tripled. This increase is not the equivalent to the increase in the area actually irrigated. In Spain, for example, the area actually irrigated increased by about 40% between 1990 and 2003 (FAO, 2020) Between 2005 and 2016, irrigable and irrigated areas declined by 3,5% and 6,1% respectively. However, changes are markedly different between countries: the share of irrigable area in the Netherland increased by 8% while it decreased by 10% in Greece.

Irrigated agriculture often leads to water storage, the construction of irrigation channels and in some cases water transfer between catchments to serve irrigation needs. The countries with the highest percentage of large dams/reservoirs being used for irrigation (as single-purpose or multi-purpose reservoirs) are located in southern Europe (i.e. Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria, Portugal, Spain, Italy, France), (ICOLD, 2020). Spain has the largest number of large reservoirs in Europe, while Cyprus has the highest density. The majority of dams were developed in the 1960s and 1980s facilitating extensive river water abstraction, mainly for irrigation (Zogaris et al., 2012). These statistics do not include the large numbers of smaller reservoirs used by one or small groups of irrigators. For example, it is estimated that in France alone as much as 125 000 of those existed in 2000 (Carluer et al., 2016a). As droughts increasingly stricken agriculture, the push for creating additional water storage is increasing.

Drainage schemes

Many of the soils of northern Europe are too wet for optimal crop and pasture production. Excess water can result in waterlogging and favour the spread of crop diseases, affecting crop yields negatively. Drainage techniques are used to remove excess water from the soil to lower the groundwater level. Drainage is sometimes used in combination with irrigation techniques for optimal control of soil water content. Across Europe, 17% of arable land area is drained to optimise crop production.

In low-lying areas such as floodplains and coastal areas, much land has been reclaimed for agriculture, often over centuries. Typical situations of land reclamation include the modification of a river with multiple channels into a river with one single channel, or the combination of floodplain drainage with dikes for flood protection. Land reclamation also occurs around lakes, typically by lowering the mean lake water level to gain land for agriculture, forestry or urbanization (Vartia et al., 2018).

In addition, it was common practice in the past to channelize or straighten the streams meandering through agricultural lands. Straightening the channel was mainly done to reduce the wetness of the soil in order to enable an earlier land use and a more profitable land use. Straightening the channel also made the fields more farmable because they could be farmed along a straight waterway. Straightening and sometimes widening and/or deepening of a river stretch is often done in order to maximize drainage surplus water.

Farm specialisation and diversification

The level of specialisation can considerably increase the pressure on water (Le Noë et al., 2018). Specialised regions present less diverse livestock and cropping patterns. Regions highly specialised in livestock production are more likely to have nutrient surpluses because it is not possible to spread all of the manure produced on the farm. In contrast, regions highly specialised in crop specialist may face a nutrient deficit due to lack of available manure, and rely on mineral fertilisers. Mixed farming usually build on the synergies of livestock and crop production to increase nutrient recycling at farm level.

Although diversification can improve synergies between crop and livestock production, it is important to note that the relationship between diversification and use of nutrient or chemical inputs is not straightforward. For example intensively managed diverse crop systems can result for example result in increased use of nitrogen and plant protection products (Herzog et al., 2006).

Overall, agriculture in the EU-28 is highly specialised, with the majority of agricultural holdings are either crop or livestock specialists, respectively representing 52% and 25% of all agricultural holdings (ESTAT, 2020k). Crop and livestock specialist manage 84% of UAA. Only 21% of all holdings are mixed crop-livestock farms, managing 16% of UAA. Since 2005, the share of crop specialists has increased in all but one member states (Cyprus), mainly due to a decline in mixed farming.

At regional level, high levels of field crop specialisation can be observed in parts of Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Poland and the United-Kingdom, while high levels of specialisation in grazing livestock exists in Ireland, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria and Sweden, France and the United Kingdom (ESTAT, 2020h). Specialisation in permanent crops exist particularly around the Mediterranean.

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2.3        A classification of land use systems intensity in Europe

To illustrate further how agricultural production may exert different pressure intensities onto water resources and provide a basis for exploring the linkages between agricultural production drivers and pressures (Chapter 3), European farming systems were grouped into European Agricultural Regions.

Europe’s agricultural production follows broad regional patterns. Freshwater ecosystems also show regional differences in their characteristics and, hence, vulnerability to agricultural pressures. Thus, linking the agricultural production drivers with the pressures from agriculture benefits from a broad division of Europe into major regions: West, East, Mediterranean, North and Highlands, combined (Map 2.1).

This division integrates the coarse climatic and socio-economic differences between the regions, which influence the agricultural systems. The Western region generally exhibits favourable climatic and economic conditions for productive agriculture, while the Eastern region is characterised by a different structure of farming systems, mainly for historical and socio-economic reasons. Climate-induced water scarcity is the decisive factor in the Mediterranean, and the Northern and Highland regions largely hold less-favourable areas for agricultural production due to wet and cold climatic conditions (Metzger et al., 2005; Kuemmerle et al., 2008; Levers et al., 2018a).

 

Besides these broad regional differences, agriculture can be separated into different farming systems characterised by type of land cover and management intensity. From a pan-European perspective, the main categories comprise arable and permanent cropland, livestock, extensive grassland and fallow farmland. Management intensity classifies the input expenditures and output revenues, generally separating between intensive and extensive farming systems. Figure 2.3 shows the distribution of different agricultural land systems across Europe, for which the management intensity was quantified combining nitrogen input, livestock density and harvested output (Levers et al., 2018a)

 

 

Overall:

  • They feature the highest agricultural yields of common crops across all regions except the Mediterranean.
  • The Western region shows the highest share of intensive farming. This region is further characterised by high livestock densities, combined with high yields of plants harvested green for animal feed. Extensive farming covers almost one-third of the agricultural land and generally generates lower yields and livestock products, with the Western region again being the most productive among these land systems.
  • The outputs of the different Mediterranean farming systems rank lowest in terms of crop yields and livestock products. Apart from the low production levels of various common crops, this region is characterised by cultivation of vegetables and permanent crops such as grapes, olives, citrus and other fruits.
  • Less than 20% of the remaining agricultural land in Europe is occupied by extensive grassland area and fallow farmland, with overall very low production rates.

 

 

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