Impact of land-take on the land resource base for crop production in the European Union

Spatial analyses of land productivity and land use data from 2000 and 2006 were performed to assess the deterioration of land resources for biomass production of the European Union. Data show that while all member states of the EU experiences constant decrease of its production capacity, there are also considerable differences among countries and regions. Based on the analysis of 25 member states, the EU lost 0.2% of its agricultural land and 0.23% of its productive potential in the period between 2000 and 2006 due to land take and conversion to artificial surfaces. The loss of agricultural land during the study period was the highest in the Netherlands, which lost with the land conversions 1.44% of its biomass production potential within six years. The figures are quite alarming for Cyprus (0.84%) and Spain (0.43%) as well. In metropolitan areas of Amsterdam, Berlin, Bratislava, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Madrid, Milan and Vienna infrastructural investment occurred on the better agricultural land while Budapest, Paris and Warsaw spread their urban growth to directions where less productive land of their regions situates. The Netherlands, Denmark and Ireland had to face the largest loss of their food production capacity accounted for each citizen, exceeding the equivalent of 1500 kg*ha-1 *year-1 wheat in all three countries.

TOTH Gergely; 

2012-12-04

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

JRC68135

0048-9697,   

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969712009369,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC68135,   

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.06.103,