The Size of Czech Agricultural Enterprises: Implications for Economic Efficiency

Radka RedlichováVojtěch TamášKristina SomerlíkováJana Hlaváčková

DOI 10.7160/aol.2025.170206
No 2/2025, June
pp. 79-93

Redlichová, R., Tamáš, V., Somerlíková, K. and Hlaváčková, J. (2025) "The Size of Czech Agricultural Enterprises: Implications for Economic Efficiency", AGRIS on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics, Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 79-93. ISSN 1804-1930 DOI 10.7160/aol.2025.170206.

Abstract

This study analyses the economic efficiency and size structure of agricultural enterprises in the Czech Republic, focusing on differences between organic and conventional farming systems during the 2016-2022 period. Key objectives include evaluating farm size distribution, profitability, and efficiency under varying conditions. Results reveal that organic farms are generally smaller and more reliant on subsidies, achieving lower production per hectare compared to conventional farms. However, their profit becomes comparable when subsidies are included. Conversely, conventional farms demonstrate greater efficiency, particularly among larger enterprises. These insights are pivotal for shaping agricultural policy with respect to production efficiency and food self-sufficiency.

Keywords

Farm structure, farm size, farm results, profitability, organic agriculture, conventional agriculture

References

  1. Abd Elbar, A. R., Yousef, M. S. and Hassan, H. (2019) "Energy, exergy, exergoeconomic and enviroeconomic (4E) evaluation of a new integration of solar still with photovoltaic panel", Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 233, pp. 665-680. ISSN 0959-6526. DOI 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.06.111.
  2. Arbelo, A., Arbelo-Pérez, M. and Pérez-Gómez, P. (2020) "Profit efficiency as a measure of performance and frontier models: A resource-based view", Journal of General Management, Vol. 24, No. 2. ISSN 0306-3070 DOI 10.1177/2340944420924336.
  3. Azizi, R., Kazemi Matin, R. and Amin, G. R. (2016) "A ratio-based method for ranking production units in profit efficiency measurement", Mathematical Sciences, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 211-217. ISSN 2008-1359 DOI 10.1007/s40096-016-0195-8.
  4. Başer, U. and Bozoğlu, M. (2023) "The impact of farm size on sustainability of beef cattle farms: A case study of the Samsun province, Turkey", International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 1-15. ISSN 1473-5903 DOI 10.1080/14735903.2023.2253647.
  5. Blažková, I. and Chmelíková, G. (2015) "The impact of import competition on the development of market concentration in the Czech food and beverages industry", Proceedings ICABR 2015: X. International Conference on Applied Business Research, pp. 129-135. ISBN 978-80-7509-379-0
  6. Brătulescu (Manolache), A. M. and Mărcuṭă, A. (2019) "Comparative analysis of technical indicators for conventional and ecological agriculture", Agrarian Economy and Rural Development - Realities and Perspectives for Romania, International Symposium, 10th ed., pp. 236-240. ISSN 2069-2307
  7. Cheng, S., Zheng, Z. and Henneberry, S. (2018) "Farm size and use of inputs: Explanations for the inverse productivity relationship", China Agricultural Economic Review, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 243-260. ISSN 1756-137X DOI 10.1108/CAER-09-2018-0192.
  8. Chmelíková, G. and Redlichová, R. (2013) "Start-ups and their role in the economy", Regional Development and Society, pp. 129-136. ISSN 2330-4506
  9. Chmelíková, G. and Redlichová, R. (2020) "Is there a link between financial exclusion and over-indebtedness? Evidence from Czech peripheral municipalities", Journal of Rural Studies, Vol. 78, pp. 457-466. ISSN 0743-0167 DOI 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2020.07.010.
  10. Choruma, D. J., Dirwai, T. L., Mutenje, M. J., Mustafa, M., Chimonyo, V. G. P., Jacobs-Mata, I. and Mabhaudhi, T. (2024) "Digitalisation in agriculture: A scoping review of technologies in practice, challenges, and opportunities for smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa", Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, Vol. 18, p. 101286. ISSN 2666-1543 DOI 10.1016/j.jafr.2024.101286.
  11. Cimpoieș, L. and Coșalîc, D. (2024) "Towards sustainable agriculture: Assessing the economic impact of organic farms in Moldova’s agricultural sector", Scientific Papers Series Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture & Rural Development, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 319-328. ISSN 2284-7995
  12. Dah, J., Hussin, N., Shahibi, M. S., Ahmad, M., Hashim, H. and Ametefe, D. S. (2023) "A systematic review on the factors governing precision agriculture adoption among small-scale farmers", Outlook on Agriculture, Vol. 52, No. 4, pp. 469-485. ISSN 0030-7270 DOI 10.1177/00307270231205640.
  13. Dudek, M. and Śpiewak, R. (2022) "Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on sustainable food systems: Lessons learned for public policies? The case of Poland", Agriculture, Vol. 12, No. 1, p. 61. ISSN 2077-0472 DOI 10.3390/agriculture12010061.
  14. Dumont, B., Modernel, P., Benoit, M., Ruggia, A., Soca, P., Dernat, S., Tournadre, H., Dogliotti, S. and Rossing, W. A. H. (2020) "Mobilizing ecological processes for herbivore production: Farmers and researchers learning together", Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, Vol. 4. ISSN 2571-581X DOI 10.3389/fsufs.2020.544828.
  15. Durham, T. C. and Mizik, T. (2021) "Comparative economics of conventional, organic, and alternative agricultural production systems", Economies, Vol. 9, No. 2, p. 64. ISSN 2227-7099 DOI 10.3390/economies9020064.
  16. Foster, A. D. and Rosenzweig, M. R. (2022) "Are there too many farms in the world? Labor market transaction costs, machine capacities, and optimal farm size", Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 130, No. 3, pp. 636-680. ISSN 0022-3808 DOI 10.1086/717890.
  17. Hazell, P., Poulton, C., Wiggins, S. and Dorward, A. (2010) "The future of small farms: Trajectories and policy priorities", World Development, Vol. 38, No. 10, pp. 1349-1361. ISSN 0305-750X DOI 10.1016/j.worlddev.2009.06.012.
  18. International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) (2021) "Research Series 34: Farm size and productivity", Rome: IFAD. [Online]. Available: https://www.ifad.org/documents/d/new-ifad.org/research-series-34-pdf [Accessed: Sept. 14, 2024]
  19. Jellason, N. P., Ambituuni, A., Adu, D. A., Jellason, J. A., Qureshi, M. I., Olarinde, A. and Manning, L. (2024) "The potential for blockchain to improve small-scale agri-food business’ supply chain resilience: A systematic review", British Food Journal, Vol. 126, No. 7, pp. 52-70. ISSN 0007-070X DOI 10.1108/BFJ-07-2023-0591.
  20. Karunathilake, E. M. B. M., Le, A. T., Heo, S., Chung, Y. S. and Mansoor, S. (2023) "The path to smart farming: Innovations and opportunities in precision agriculture", Agriculture, Vol. 13, No. 8, p. 1593. ISSN 2077-0472 DOI 10.3390/agriculture13081593.
  21. Lesiv, M., Laso Bayas, J. C., See, L., Duerauer, M., Dahlia, D., Durando, N., Hazarika, R., Sahariah, P. K., Vakolyuk, M., Blyshchyk, V., Bilous, A., Perez-Hoyos, A., Gengler, S., Prestele, R., Bilous, S., Akhtar, I., Singha, K., Choudhury, S. B., Chetri, T., Malek, Ž., Bungnamei, K., Saikia, A., Sahariah, D., Narzary, W., Danylo, O., Sturn, T., Karner, M., McCallum, I., Schepaschenko, D., Moltchanova, E., Fraisl, D., Moorthy, I. and Fritz, S. (2019) "Estimating the global distribution of field size using crowdsourcing", Global Change Biology, Vol. 25, pp. 174-186. ISSN 1354-1013 DOI 10.1111/gcb.14492.
  22. Lu, S., Zhang, Y., Li, X. and Wang, J. (2024) "How can rural digitalization improve agricultural green total factor productivity: Empirical evidence from counties in China", Heliyon, Vol. 10, No. 15, p. e35296. ISSN 2405-8440 DOI 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e35296.
  23. Mizik, T. (2023) "How can precision farming work on a small scale? A systematic literature review", Precision Agriculture, Vol. 24, pp. 384-406. ISSN 1385-2256 DOI 10.1007/s11119-022-09934-y.
  24. Nehring, R., Gillespie, J., Greene, C. and Law, J. (2021) "The economics and productivity of organic versus conventional U.S. dairy farms", Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Vol. 53, No. 1, pp. 1-19. ISSN 1073-0700 DOI 10.1017/aae.2020.34.
  25. Norboo, J. and Dolma, T. (2023) "Relationship between farm size and productivity", IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. 25-31. ISSN 2279-0837 DOI 10.9790/0837-2803072531.
  26. Ponisio, L. C., M'Gonigle, L. K., Mace, K. C., Palomino, J., de Valpine, P. and Kremen, C. (2015) "Diversification practices reduce organic to conventional yield gap", Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 282, No. 1799. ISSN 0962-8452 DOI 10.1098/rspb.2014.1396.
  27. Quaicoe, O., Asiseh, F., Baffoe-Bonnie, A. and Ng'ombe, J. N. (2024) "Small farms in North Carolina, United States: Analyzing farm and operator characteristics in the pursuit of economic resilience and sustainability", Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Vol. 46, No. 1, pp. 13-31. ISSN 2040-5790 DOI 10.1002/aepp.13392.
  28. Ray, S. C. and Yang, L. (2024) "Measurement and decomposition of profit efficiency under alternative definitions in nonparametric models", Journal of Productivity Analysis, Vol. 62, pp. 267-290. ISSN 0895-562X DOI 10.1007/s11123-024-00720-8.
  29. Redlichová, R., Svobodová, E., Blažková, I., Chmelíková, G. and Vinohradský, K. (2023) "Links between farm size, location and productivity of farms in the Czech Republic", European Countryside, Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 508–524. ISSN 1803-8417 DOI 10.2478/euco-2023-0027.
  30. Ren, C., Liu, S., van Grinsven, H., Reis, S., Jin, S., Liu, H. and Gu, B. (2019) "The impact of farm size on agricultural sustainability", Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 220, pp. 357-367. ISSN 0959-6526 DOI 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.02.151.
  31. Rigg, J., Salamanca, A. and Thompson, E. C. (2016) "The puzzle of East and Southeast Asia's persistent smallholder", Journal of Rural Studies, Vol. 43, pp. 118-133. ISSN 0743-0167 DOI 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2015.11.003.
  32. Rosero, D. V., Soto Mas, F., Nervi, L., Sebastian, R., Casanova, V. and Guldan, S. (2023) "Impact of COVID-19 on USDA-certified organic producers: Exploring the role of sociodemographic and contextual factors", Organic Agriculture, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 452-472. ISSN 1879-4238 DOI 10.1007/s13165-023-00430-9.
  33. Tudor, V. C., Gimbășanu, G. F., Fîntîneru, A., Mărcuță, A. G., Coadă, C. S. and Teodorescu, R. F. (2022) "Comparative study on the level of production costs in organic and conventional agriculture in Romania", Scientific Papers. Series Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and Rural Development, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 761-766. ISSN 2284-7995
  34. Wang, G., Cheng, K., Luo, Y. and Salman, M. (2022) "Heterogeneous environmental regulations and green economic efficiency in China: The mediating role of industrial structure", Environmental Science and Pollution Research, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 1-21. ISSN 0944-1344 DOI 10.1007/s11356-022-20112-5.
  35. Zhou, Z., Liu, J., Zeng, H. and Zhang, Y. (2022) "Carbon performance evaluation model from the perspective of circular economy—The case of Chinese thermal power enterprise", Frontiers of Engineering Management, Vol. 9, pp. 297-311. ISSN 2096-0255 DOI 10.1007/s42524-020-0143-z.

Full paper

  Full paper (.pdf, 1.15 MB).