Examination of Factors Affecting the Efficiency and the Capability of Innovation Activities in the Pig Breeding Sector in Hungary

Csörnyei, Zoltán

Keywords: pig breeding, efficiency, innovation, potential for improvement, support

There have been continuously worsening trends in the Hungarian pig breeding sector in recent years. With regard to the growth of the sector and halting these depressive processes it should be clearly known what potential for efficiency improvements and de-velopment exists in this sector. Most of the indicators are qualitative or at least hard to measure. However there are several factors of potential in the FADN AKI database that are acknowledged worldwide, for example the age of the farmers, the level of their agri-cultural skills, the farm size and the accessibility to several forms of support. These fac-tors influence the effectiveness of production, the improvements, the willingness and the capability for innovating in the pig breeding sector in Hungary. The age and the skills of the farmers are even more important factors for private farms than for the enterprises, while the size of the farm is strongly connected with labour efficiency. The age and the skills of the farmers are also very important factors in relation to the other kinds of par-ticipants in the field of agriculture. These three elements can play an important role in the decision making processes for improving the sector. As farmers become younger, with the improvement of their skills, with the emergence of farms large enough to sup-port farmers and their families, and with providing suitable areas of land to the pig breeders to produce fodder, the efficiency of the sector can be improved.

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