Abstract
Social and Economic Costs of Spatial Disorder in Agriculture. The main objective
of the study was the identification of the phenomena of chaos in the structure and spatial
organization of agriculture, that is the agrarian fragmentation of farms, exclusion of land from
agricultural production in suburban zones and the fragmentation of the agricultural landscape.
These processes cause a major increase in economic and social costs, which results in the loss
of resources and spatial disorder in agriculture. An attempt was made to estimate the costs of
these processes in economic, social and environmental terms. The economic dimension of spatial
disorder in agriculture is manifested by negative results in the production and consumption sphere
related most often to high labour costs, and consequently to low incomes. The social dimension
of spatial disorder in agriculture is demonstrated by the effects of de-agrarization processes
and deformation of social structures. De-agrarization means the processes of agricultural
area reduction, extensification and fallowing as well as an increasingly limited significance
of agriculture as a workplace and a reduction in the source of income by rural residents.
A conducted analysis of spatial disorder in agriculture resulting from the lack of appropriate
regulation and taxation systems as well as historical factors allowed determining direct and
indirect results influencing the structure and spatial organization of agriculture. Direct results
include: a chessboard pattern of agricultural land, marginalization of the agricultural function
in rural areas which mostly applies to suburban zones, unregulated ownership of farmland,
its unjustified designation for other purposes, a decrease in biodiversity in agriculture and
fragmentation of the agricultural landscape. Indirect results include: an increase in the costs
of agricultural production, expensive agricultural-installation plans, loss of direct payments,
easement appurtenant, the emergence of human-environment conflicts and major transformations
of the agricultural landscape in a suburban zone.
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