How can we use the agricultural statistics databases for analysing efficiency and competitiveness?

Laczka, Éva

Keywords: system of agricultural statistics, concepts, definitions, coverage, structure of agriculture

The analysis of efficiency and competitiveness is one of the most topical questions for the experts dealing with agricultural issues. This is all the more so when we consider that in Hungary the share of agriculture in GDP and in employment are decreasing, while other statistical indices reveal similar trends. The increase of the output of agriculture, the creation of a structure allowing the production of higher value added, and the expansion of employment depend – among others – on the availability of a well-formed workforce possessing the necessary specialised knowledge and the degree of attractiveness of agricultural activity. The assessment of the situation and the elaboration of the proposals require complex analyses covering economic, social and environmental considerations, and the use of all available information and databases.
As a result of the development of statistical and other information systems there is not an information shortage today, but on the other hand analysts and users have to cope with the great diversity of information systems. Users have to study more carefully than before the concepts and definitions used in the information systems, but they also have to consider which actors and groups of the agrarian sector the data of the different information systems and sub-systems apply. All this is further refined by the traditionally different functioning and structure of the two big forms of agricultural holdings in Hungarian agriculture – agricultural enterprises and private holdings – and their different characteristics. Owing to the specificities and international standards of the information systems, different concepts have to be defined for agricultural enterprises and private holdings, but different solutions have to be used in the case of the individual surveys as well.
Based on the above facts, the purpose of this article is to draw attention to the possibilities and sometimes the limits of the usability of the corresponding information and databases, and to the “coverage” and differences in concepts that have to be taken into consideration. The article proposes to focus the examination of efficiency and competitiveness on the enterprises carrying out agricultural activity and the market oriented private holdings. It calls attention to the analysis of these holdings according to the type of activity (crop farming, animal farming, mixed farming), that can lead to further, interesting results. Although the article proposes to exclude from the scope of efficiency and competitiveness analysis private holdings producing exclusively for own consumption or selling the surplus, it is of the opinion that it is worth considering to focus the analysis mainly on the social and societal aspects of such holdings.

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