{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,30]],"date-time":"2026-06-30T14:36:30Z","timestamp":1782830190991,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,11,19]],"date-time":"2018-11-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1542585600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sustainability"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Although organic farming is an important topic for society, at the European level there have been few achievements so far. Despite its constant increase, the demand for organic food in Europe is outweighing the development of this sector. As such, we aim to assess the interaction between conventional and organic agriculture, as well as their impact on the value of agricultural production at the European level. The main objective of this article is the assessment of the impact of organic farming, as compared with conventional agriculture, on sustainable development of European countries. Therefore, we used panel models based on data collected from the Eurostat database. We found that an increase of 1% of the organic farming areas will generate a contraction in agricultural production of 0.278%, whereas a 1% increase in the production of fertilizers would generate an increase of 0.260% in agriculture production. Moreover, an increase of 1% in the production of plant protection substances and in gross capital formation would generate increases of 0.1190% and 0.0933%, respectively, in agriculture production. The obtained results depend mainly on the characteristics of work on land, as some agricultural engineering methods (crop rotation, pest control, use of fertilizers etc.) influence productivity and production.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/su10114279","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,11,22]],"date-time":"2018-11-22T09:18:25Z","timestamp":1542878305000},"page":"4279","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":53,"title":["Organic versus Conventional Farming\u2014A Paradigm for the Sustainable Development of the European Countries"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Silvia-Elena","family":"Cristache","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Statistics and Econometrics, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romana Square, 15-17 Doroban\u021bi St., Sector 1, 010552 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mariana","family":"Vu\u021b\u0103","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Finance, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 5-7 Mihail Moxa St., Sector 1, 010961 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Erika","family":"Marin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Statistics and Econometrics, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romana Square, 15-17 Doroban\u021bi St., Sector 1, 010552 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sorin-Iulian","family":"Cioac\u0103","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Money and Banking, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 5-7 Mihail Moxa St., Sector 1, 010961 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mihai","family":"Vu\u0163\u0103","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Accounting and Auditing, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 6-8 Romana Square, Sector 1, 010374 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,11,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Cristache, S.E., Rotaru, F., and Rotaru, C. (2018). European Agriculture in 2020: Solutions for a Sustainable Development. Agrifood Economics and Sustainable Development in Contemporary Society, IGI Global.","DOI":"10.4018\/978-1-5225-5739-5.ch012"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Stoian, M., and Caprita, D. (2019). Organic agriculture: Opportunities and Trend. Agrifood Economics and Sustainable Development in Contemporary Society, IGI Global.","DOI":"10.4018\/978-1-5225-5739-5.ch013"},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"FiBL&IFOAM (2018, September 25). The World of Organic Agriculture Statistics and Emerging Trends. Available online: www.IFOAM.BIO\/Policy-Tookit and www.organic.world.net\/yerbook."},{"key":"ref_4","unstructured":"(2010). EViews, User Guide, Version 8.0, QMS Quantitative Micro Software."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"758","DOI":"10.1093\/mnras\/80.8.758","article-title":"A Mathematical Examination of the Methods of Determining the Accuracy of an Observation by the Mean Error, and by the Mean Square Error","volume":"80","author":"Fisher","year":"1920","journal-title":"Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc."},{"key":"ref_6","unstructured":"(2018, September 25). The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Available online: http:\/\/www.fao.org\/organicag\/oa-faq\/oa-faq1\/es\/."},{"key":"ref_7","unstructured":"(2018, October 15). REGULAMENTUL (CE) nr. 834\/2007 al Comisiei Europene Din 28 Iunie 2007 Privind Produc\u021bia Ecologic\u0103 \u0218i Etichetarea Produselor Ecologice, Precum \u0218i De Abrogare a Regulamentului (CEE) nr. 2092\/91, Available online: http:\/\/www.justice.gov.md\/file\/Centrul%20de%20armonizare%20a%20legislatiei\/Baza%20de%20date\/Materiale%202009\/Legislatie\/32007R0834-Ro.PDF."},{"key":"ref_8","unstructured":"Gold, M.V. (2018, August 30). Organic Production and Organic Food: Information Access Tools, Available online: http:\/\/www.nal.usda.gov\/afsic\/pubs\/ofp\/ofp.shtml."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"240","DOI":"10.17221\/39\/2011-AGRICECON","article-title":"The economic performance analysis of organic farms in the Czech Republic","volume":"57","year":"2011","journal-title":"Agric. Econ. Czech"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1694","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1071148","article-title":"Soil fertility and biodiversity in organic farming","volume":"296","author":"Mader","year":"2002","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.still.2016.02.003","article-title":"Crop yield, plant nutrient uptake and soil physicochemical properties under organic soil amendments and nitrogen fertilization on Nitisols","volume":"160","author":"Agegnehu","year":"2016","journal-title":"Soil Tillage Res."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"78","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jclepro.2014.02.033","article-title":"Optimization of organic and conventional olive agricultural practices from a Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing perspectives","volume":"70","author":"Mohamad","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Clean. Prod."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"102","DOI":"10.1017\/S1742170509002555","article-title":"Long-term economic performance of organic and conventional field crops in the mid-Atlantic region","volume":"24","author":"Cavigelli","year":"2009","journal-title":"Renew. Agric. Food Syst."},{"key":"ref_14","unstructured":"IFOAM (2018, October 12). Organic in Europe. Prospects and Developments. Available online: https:\/\/www.ifoam-eu.org\/sites\/default\/files\/ifoameu_organic_in_europe_2016.pdf."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Dyson, T. (1996). Population and Food: Global Trends and Future Prospects, Rout-ledge.","DOI":"10.4324\/9780203977156"},{"key":"ref_16","unstructured":"European Commission (2018, October 15). A European Strategy for Smart, Green and Inclusive Growth. Communication from the European Commission 2020. Available online: http:\/\/eurlex.europa.eu\/LexUriServ\/LexUriServ.do?uri=."},{"key":"ref_17","unstructured":"(2018, October 05). REGULAMENTUL (CE) NR. 889\/2008 al Comisiei Europene din 5 Septembrie 2008 de Stabilire a Normelor de Aplicare a Regulamentului (CE) nr. 834\/2007 al Consiliului Privind Produc\u021bia Ecologic\u0103 \u0219i Etichetarea Produselor Ecologice \u00een Ceea Ce Prive\u0219te Produc\u021bia Ecologic\u0103, Etichetarea \u0218i Controlul. Available online: https:\/\/eur-lex.europa.eu\/LexUriServ\/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:2008R0889:20100701:RO:PDF."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"159","DOI":"10.1016\/S0016-7185(99)00029-9","article-title":"Organic vs. conventional agriculture: Knowl-edge, power and innovation in the food chain","volume":"31","author":"Morgan","year":"2000","journal-title":"Geoforum"},{"key":"ref_19","unstructured":"European Commission (2018, October 10). Comprendre Les Politiques de L\u2019 Union Europ\u00e9enne. Available online: https:\/\/www.europedirectpyrenees.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/agriculture.pdf."},{"key":"ref_20","unstructured":"European Commission (2018, October 02). Agriculture\u2014A Partnership between Europe and Farmers (CAP). The EU\u2019s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP): For Our Food, for Our Rural Areas and for the Environment We Live in 2017. Available online: http:\/\/europa.eu\/pol\/index_ro.htm."},{"key":"ref_21","unstructured":"European Commission (2018, October 12). Let Us Understand the Policies of the European Union: Agriculture, the Directorate General for Citizen Communication and Information. Available online: https:\/\/europa.eu\/european-union\/topics_en."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Smil, V. (2000). Feeding the World: A Challenge for the Twenty-First Century, MIT Press.","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/2977.001.0001"},{"key":"ref_23","first-page":"335","article-title":"Land cover change over the last three centuries due to human activities: The availability of new global data sets","volume":"61","author":"Goldewijk","year":"2004","journal-title":"Geo-Journal"},{"key":"ref_24","unstructured":"UNEP (2005). One Planet, Many People: Atlas of Our Changing Environment, UN."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1403","DOI":"10.1080\/0267257X.2015.1059874","article-title":"Less is more: Is a green demarketing strategy sustainable?","volume":"31","author":"Soule","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Market. Manag."},{"key":"ref_26","unstructured":"Patil, S., Reidsmab, P., Shahb, P., Purushothamana, S., and Wolfb, J. (2012). Compar-ing conventional and organic agriculture in Karnataka, India: Where and when can organic farming be sustainable?. Land Use Policy."},{"key":"ref_27","unstructured":"European Commission (2018, October 12). Europe 2020\u2014A European Strategy for Smart Sustainable and Inclusive Growth. Available online: http:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/eu2020\/pdf."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5","DOI":"10.1300\/J064v13n04_03","article-title":"Indicators: Tools to evaluate the environmental impacts of farming systems","volume":"13","author":"Girardin","year":"1999","journal-title":"J. Sustain. Agric."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"463","DOI":"10.1016\/S0921-8009(01)00245-2","article-title":"Constructing a farm levelindicator of sustainable agricultural practice","volume":"39","author":"Rigby","year":"2001","journal-title":"Ecol. Econ."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"131","DOI":"10.1016\/S0167-8809(01)00354-1","article-title":"Evaluation of the environmental impact of agri-culture at the farm level: A comparison and analysis of 12 indicator-basedmethods","volume":"93","author":"Petit","year":"2002","journal-title":"Agric. Ecosyst. Environ."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"195","DOI":"10.1016\/j.agee.2004.04.003","article-title":"Farm level environmentalindicators; are they useful? An overview of green accounting sys-tems for European farms","volume":"105","author":"Halberg","year":"2005","journal-title":"Agric. Ecosyst. Environ."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"981","DOI":"10.4141\/cjps2012-035","article-title":"Assessment of the environmental sustainability of organic farm-ing: Definitions, indicators and the major challenges","volume":"92","author":"Halberg","year":"2012","journal-title":"Can. J. Plant Sci."},{"key":"ref_33","unstructured":"De Schutter, O. (2010). Report Submitted by the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, United Nation. Available online: https:\/\/www2.ohchr.org\/english\/issues\/food\/docs\/a-hrc-16-49.pdf."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"409","DOI":"10.1038\/35068639","article-title":"Urban myths of organic farming","volume":"410","author":"Trewavas","year":"2001","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"404","DOI":"10.1093\/biosci\/biu037","article-title":"Farming for ecosystem services: An ecological approach to production agriculture","volume":"64","author":"Robertson","year":"2014","journal-title":"Bioscience"},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e1602638","DOI":"10.1126\/sciadv.1602638","article-title":"Many shades of gray\u2014The context-dependent performance of organic agriculture","volume":"3","author":"Seufert","year":"2017","journal-title":"Sci. Adv."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.agsy.2011.12.004","article-title":"The crop yield gap between organic and conventional agriculture","volume":"108","author":"Rijk","year":"2012","journal-title":"Agric. Syst."},{"key":"ref_38","first-page":"949","article-title":"Attempting to measure sustainable intensification of agriculture in countries of the European Union","volume":"19","author":"Staniszewski","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Environ. Prot. Ecol."},{"key":"ref_39","first-page":"494","article-title":"Impactul migra\u0163iei asupra dezvolt\u0103rii economice a \u0163\u0103rii receptoare. Migra\u021bia interna\u021bional\u0103\u2014Implica\u021bii la nivel economic. (The Influence of Migration Fund Transfers on Tax Sustainability in Dependent Economies. International migration\u2014Economic implications)","volume":"19","author":"Manole","year":"2017","journal-title":"Amfiteatru Econ. J."},{"key":"ref_40","unstructured":"Baum, C.F. (2009). An Introduction to Stata Programming, Stata Press."},{"key":"ref_41","unstructured":"(2018, August 30). Eurostat. Available online: http:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/eurostat."},{"key":"ref_42","unstructured":"Schmidheiny, K. (2018, October 13). The Multiple Linear Regression Model. Available online: https:\/\/www.schmidheiny.name\/teaching\/ols.pdf."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"225","DOI":"10.1016\/0304-4076(94)01616-8","article-title":"Statistical inference in vector autoregressions with possibly integrated processes","volume":"66","author":"Toda","year":"1995","journal-title":"J. Econom."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8876","DOI":"10.3390\/su6128876","article-title":"Is Romanian Rural Tourism Sustainable? Revealing Particularities","volume":"6","author":"Andrei","year":"2014","journal-title":"Sustainability"},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"86","DOI":"10.1017\/S1742170507001640","article-title":"Organic agriculture and the globalfood supply","volume":"22","author":"Badgley","year":"2007","journal-title":"Renew. Agric. Food Syst."},{"key":"ref_46","unstructured":"Voineagu, V., Titan, E., Serban, R., Ghita, S., Todose, D., Boboc, C., and Pele, D. (2007). Econometric Theory and Practice, Meteor Press Publishing House."},{"key":"ref_47","first-page":"463","article-title":"Influen\u021ba transferurilor de fonduri efectuate de migran\u021bi asupra sustenabilit\u0103\u021bii fiscale \u00een economiile dependente. Migra\u021bia interna\u021bional\u0103\u2014Implica\u021bii la nivel economic, (The Influence of Migration Fund Transfers on Tax Sustainability in Dependent Economies. International migration\u2014Economic implications)","volume":"19","author":"Simionescu","year":"2017","journal-title":"Amfiteatru Econ. J."},{"key":"ref_48","unstructured":"(2018, October 12). European Commission 2010 General Budget: Title 05\u2014Agriculture and Rural Development. Available online: http:\/\/eurlex.europa.eu\/budget\/data\/D2010_VOL4\/EN\/nmc-titleN123A5\/index.html."},{"key":"ref_49","unstructured":"Aceleanu, M.I. (2018). Sustainability and Competitiveness of Romanian Farms through Organic Agriculture. Sustainability, 10."},{"key":"ref_50","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"455","DOI":"10.1016\/j.red.2005.12.002","article-title":"The Role of Agriculture in Aggregate Business Cycle","volume":"9","author":"Restuccia","year":"2006","journal-title":"Rev. Econ. Dyn."},{"key":"ref_51","unstructured":"European Commission (2018, October 10). Budget de l\u2019UE: La Politique Agricole Commune Apr\u00e8s 2020, Fiche D\u2019information. Available online: http:\/\/europa.eu\/rapid\/press-release_MEMO-18-3974_fr.htm."},{"key":"ref_52","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1449","DOI":"10.1080\/0267257X.2015.1061584","article-title":"Exploring consumer responsibility for sustainable consumption","volume":"31","author":"Luchs","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Market. Manag."},{"key":"ref_53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.1108\/07363769310039102","article-title":"Strategies for Environmental Advertising","volume":"10","author":"Davis","year":"1993","journal-title":"J. Consum. Market."}],"container-title":["Sustainability"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2071-1050\/10\/11\/4279\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T15:30:39Z","timestamp":1760196639000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2071-1050\/10\/11\/4279"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2018,11,19]]},"references-count":53,"journal-issue":{"issue":"11","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,11]]}},"alternative-id":["su10114279"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/su10114279","relation":{},"ISSN":["2071-1050"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2071-1050","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2018,11,19]]}}}