Specialization and diversification of agricultural production in the light of sustainable development

Th e study evaluated the importance of agricultural production structures for economic effi ciency and environmental sustainability of farms. For this purpose, multivariate methods were used: ordering and data envelopment analysis (DEA). Th e study is based on accounting data from the farms of intensive agriculture in Wielkopolska Province, collected by the Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics in Warsaw in 2004-2009. It was demonstrated that diversifi ed farms achieve similar economic effi ciency indicators as specialized farms. At the same time it was proven that the farms with production specializing in breeding cattle, implement their function of "guardians of the countryside" in the same degree or even better. Th us, the main hypothesis of the study formulated on the basis of studying literature was rejected. It said that: specialized farms achieve higher economic effi ciency with lower environmental sustainability of the production than diversifi ed farms. In the diversifi ed farms there is higher environmental sustainability of production at lower economic effi ciency than in specialized farms.