Sustainability assessment of the agri-environmental practices in Greece. Indicators' comparative study

Abstract

This research attempts to study whether the common agricultural policy is targeted enough and actually integrates the initial environmental concerns, aiming in understanding of the effectiveness of the policy in Greece. Through the development and calculation of several agri-environmental sustainability indicators, following the driving force-pressure-state-impact-response (DPSIR) model, the authors evaluate the environmental performance of Greek agriculture in comparison with Italy, Spain, Germany, and the Netherlands, under the common agricultural policy scheme. Results indicate that Greek agricultural production should follow the agricultural practices and environmental controls more closely, in order to increase agricultures' environmental performance rate and reach sustainability.