Agro-Ecological Zonation in Europe
With the expansion of the European Union, the agricultural sectors in the current member countries will face increased competition and land-use will change significantly. Fundamental structural change is already underway in the agriculture of current member states, as outlined in Agenda 2000. Both trends will most likely have a significant impact on land-use patterns in Europe's rural areas.

The Land Use Program's spatially explicit modeling approaches to quantify crop, grassland potentials of conventional agricultural production systems, as well as various bio-energy production systems, known as the FAO/IIASA Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZ) methodologies, enable a more precise and quantitative understanding of the multi-functionality of land.

Conventional farming, in many instances, is causing concern about environmental degradation of land, pollution of water resources, and in some cases, health hazards for farmers. In addition to assessments for conventional farming and bio-energy production, the Land Use Change Program is exploring possibilities for developing AEZ procedures to quantify the production potential and environmental benefits of organic farming and precision farming.

With the expansion of the European Union, the agricultural sectors in the current member countries will face increased competition and land-use will change significantly. Fundamental structural change is already underway in the agriculture of current member states, as outlined in Agenda 2000. Both trends will most likely have a significant impact on land-use patterns in Europe's rural areas.

The Land Use Program's spatially explicit modeling approaches to quantify crop, grassland potentials of conventional agricultural production systems, as well as various bio-energy production systems, known as the FAO/IIASA Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZ) methodologies, enable a more precise and quantitative understanding of the multi-functionality of land.

Conventional farming, in many instances, is causing concern about environmental degradation of land, pollution of water resources, and in some cases, health hazards for farmers. In addition to assessments for conventional farming and bio-energy production, the Land Use Change Program is exploring possibilities for developing AEZ procedures to quantify the production potential and environmental benefits of organic farming and precision farming.

Responsible for this page: Elisabeth Kawczynski
Last updated: 05 Oct 2011