| Authors |
Melnikienė, Rasa ; Namiotko, Virginia ; Volkov, Artiom ; Simonaitytė, Vitalija ; Kuliešis, Gediminas ; Šapolaitė, Vaida ; Lakis, Artūras ; Gapšys, Albertas ; Bogdanov, Andrej ; Baranauskaitė, Lina ; Dabkienė, Vida ; Eičaitė, Ovidija ; Daunytė, Rima ; Kučas, Vaidotas ; Ribašauskienė, Erika ; Mikelionytė, Deiva ; Stalgienė, Aldona |
| Abstract [eng] |
Agriculture plays an important economic, social, ethno-cultural and environmental function. The village is seen as the country's infrastructure, on which depends both rural and urban people’s quality of life. In 2018, the sector of agriculture, forestry and fisheries accounted for 3.0% of the gross value-added created in the Lithuania’s economy, and agricultural products made up more than 17.3% of the total country’s export. In 2018, the export of agricultural and food products totalled EUR 4.9 billion (by 1.6% more than in 2017), while the import amounted to EUR 3.9 billion (by 2.6% more). Since 2004 the balance of foreign trade in agricultural and food products was positive; in 2018, compared to 2017, it remained almost the same and totalled EUR 1041.8 million. Aiming to increase the competitiveness of agriculture, to support farmers’ income, to reduce social exclusion between rural and urban population, to save the environment, the economic entities are supported from the EU and national budgets. In 2018 the funds for agriculture made up EUR 1047.9 million. In 2014–2018, the number of agricultural entities by category was changing unevenly. In 2018, compared to 2014, the number of registered family farms went down by 4.1% and, compared to 2017, decreased by 5.5%. The average farm size of agricultural entities that declared UAA in 2017 was 22.7 ha, or by 2.3% larger than in 2017 and by 14.1% more than in 2014. In 2018, gross agricultural output (at current prices) was produced for EUR 2.3 billion (by 9.4% less than in 2017). In 2014–2018, crop production made up about 60% in total agricultural production. The proportion of grain crops was the largest in 2014 and 2018, accounting for 33.8 and 28.5%, respectively. In 2018, compared to 2014, the shares of fodder and other plants, and birds increased the most, by 3.2 and 1.9 percentage points, respectively, while the shares of cereals and potatoes decreased the most, by 5.3 and 1.4 percentage points, respectively. Crop production in 2018, compared to 2017, was almost a quarter less due to drought, but this yield not only ensured the needs of the domestic market (except for pork, vegetables and fruit), but also enabled the export of a large part of grain, beef, poultry and processed products. In 2018, the grain yield was 2.4 times higher than domestic market demand, and the number of cattle exceeded it almost 3 times. As the number of cows decreased, milk production in 2018, compared to 2014, decreased by 15.6%. Meat production increased by 9.4% and that of eggs by 11.4%. The supply of milk and dairy products was 1.5 times higher than the country’s needs while that of vegetables and fruit, as well as pork, were insufficient. In 2018 the certified organic area in Lithuania occupied 244.3 thou. ha, or was by 45.6% larger than in 2014. The average size of a certified farm (including fishery farms) increased from 95.9 ha (in 2017) to 99,8 ha (in 2018). The composition of the total land area by its intended purpose was almost stable. The largest share occupied agricultural land (52.2%) and forests (33.1%). 214 Advisory services for farmers and rural inhabitants provided as well as nonformal adult education organized Lithuanian Agricultural Advisory Service, Chamber of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania, Public Institution Rural Business and Markets Development Agency, other public and private consulting institutions. Research on agriculture and rural development in Lithuania was carried out by Lithuanian Institute of Agrarian Economics, Agriculture Academy of Vytautas Magnus University, Veterinary Academy and Institute of Animal Science of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry (Institutes of Agriculture, Horticulture, Forestry), Food Institute of the Kaunas University of Technology In 2017, farmers and other agricultural workers as well as legal entities paid EUR 65.1 million and EUR 42.5 million taxes and contributions (in total EUR 107.6 million). In 2014, 28.8% of rural working population were employed in agriculture, forestry and fisheries. Lately, however, when the economic situation has improved, the share of the population employed in agriculture has went down while percentages of the population involved in services, manufacture and construction have augmented. In 2018, 20.6% of the employed rural population were involved in agriculture, hunting, forestry and fisheries. In 2018, compared to 2014, the number of very small, small and medium enterprises in rural areas increased nearly 25.0% and reached 15.0 thousand (81.7% of which made up very small enterprises). The overall trend in rural and urban population decline in Lithuania remains. At the beginning of 2018, the rural population made up 924.2 thousand, i. e. it was by 12.7 thousand less than in 2017 and by 44.7 thousand less than in 2014. The rural population accounted for one third of the country's population. Lithuania was one of the leaders in terms of growth of total-factor productivity (in 2015 it ranked second among EU countries). Country’s farms have increased productivity by improving production management and organization, creating economies of scale, investing in new technologies, logistics and infrastructure. In 2017, total-factor productivity in agriculture reached 132.7% (2005 = 100%), but, compared to 2016, it decreased by 0.9 percentage point. This shows the need to look for new factors that increase the competitiveness of Lithuanian agriculture. |
