Is Small Beautiful? The Debate on the Future of Small Individual Farms in Poland

The main concern of this article is to collect and discuss cases that are advanced for and against small agricultural farms at the international level in the EU and the national level in Poland and to make an assessment of these cases in the context of sustainable rural development. Cases concerning small farms and put forward by different actors reflect their visions of agriculture and rural development. Taking a closer look at those cases is interesting in the context of sustainability considerations, as there is a widespread programmatic demand for sustainable rural development, but at the same time visions for rural development may differ widely, and the question what exactly is meant to be sustainable often remains unanswered. Before the various arguments raised for and against small farms are discussed, some evidence from two Polish rural regions is presented. The empirical research was conducted in April and May 2012 in Eastern and Southern Poland in the context of my PhD-thesis. After presenting statements made by Polish smallholders, an assessment of the initially collected cases is made in the context of sustainable rural development. A comparison of cases made for and against small farms and findings from empirical research shows that small farms do in fact have the potential to contribute to sustainable rural development

Herausforderung Nachhaltigkeit: sozial-ökologische Orientierungen für die Entwicklung ländlicher Räume

Ländliche Räume sollen sich nachhaltig entwickeln, so ist es in unterschiedlichen Fachpolitiken sowie in der Raumordnungspolitik Deutschlands festgeschrieben. Doch welche normativen Orientierungen sich über die Rede von der Berücksichtigung ökologischer, ökonomischer und sozialer Aspekte hinaus mit einer nachhaltigen ländlichen Entwicklung verbinden, bleibt mehr oder weniger unbestimmt. Entsprechend verdeckt bleiben auch Interessen‐ und Zielkonflikte sowie die Grenzen der auf verschiedenen Ebenen geforderten Integration. Diese Ausgangslage wird im vorliegenden Beitrag als "Herausforderung Nachhaltigkeit" begriffen. Vor dem Hintergrund eines als "kritisch-emanzipatorisch" bezeichneten Nachhaltigkeitsverständnisses, das in der Forschungsnachwuchsgruppe "PoNa - Politiken der Naturgestaltung" entwickelt wurde, wird eine Analyse der Politik zur Entwicklung ländlicher Räume als Nachhaltigkeitspolitik vorgenommen. Dazu wird zunächst gezeigt, dass und wie nachhaltige Entwicklung Teil der Politiken für ländliche Räume ist. Insbesondere das Konzept einer multifunktionalen Landwirtschaft und der Ansatz einer Integrierten Ländlichen Entwicklung verdeutlichen, dass die Politik für ländliche Räume unterschiedliche Ansatzpunkte für deren nachhaltige Entwicklung bereitzustellen sucht. Am Beispiel der Agrarumweltmaßnahmen wird das kritisch‐emanzipatorische Nachhaltigkeitsverständnis ausblicksartig erprobt und schließlich danach gefragt, welche Herausforderungen eine konsequente Umorientierung in Richtung Nachhaltigkeit für Politik und Wissenschaft bedeuten.Various sectoral policies and German regional planning policy set out that rural areas should develop sustainably. However, apart from taking ecological, economic and social aspects into account, it remains more or less vague which normative orientations may be linked to sustainable rural development. Accordingly, conflicts of interests and objectives remain vague along with the limits of integration required on different levels. In this article, the situation described is regarded to be "the challenge of sustainability". An analysis of rural development policies is carried out against the background of a critical, emancipatory understanding of sustainability which was developed by the junior research group PoNa ‐ Shaping Nature: Policy, Politics and Polity. In doing so, the junior research group demonstrates that and how sustainable development is a component of rural area policies. In particular, it is the concept of multifunctional agriculture and the approach of integrated rural development which may demonstrate that policymaking for rural areas provides possibilities for sustainable development options. This article uses the example of agri‐environmental measures for an initial application of the critical, emancipatory understanding of sustainability. Finally the question arises which challenges are implied by a consistent reorientation towards sustainability for policymaking and scientific research

Site-Specific Conditions Change the Response of Bacterial Producers of Soil Structure-Stabilizing Agents Such as Exopolysaccarides and Lipopolysaccarides to Tillage Intensity

Agro-ecosystems experience huge losses of land every year due to soil erosion induced by poor agricultural practices such as intensive tillage. Erosion can be minimized by the presence of stable soil aggregates, the formation of which can be promoted by bacteria. Some of these microorganisms have the ability to produce exopolysaccharides and lipopolysaccharides that "glue" soil particles together. However, little is known about the influence of tillage intensity on the bacterial potential to produce these polysaccharides, even though more stable soil aggregates are usually observed under less intense tillage. As the effects of tillage intensity on soil aggregate stability may vary between sites, we hypothesized that the response of polysaccharide-producing bacteria to tillage intensity is also determined by site-specific conditions. To investigate this, we performed a high-throughput shotgun sequencing of DNA extracted from conventionally and reduced tilled soils from three tillage system field trials characterized by different soil parameters. While we confirmed that the impact of tillage intensity on soil aggregates is site-specific, we could connect improved aggregate stability with increased absolute abundance of genes involved in the production of exopolysaccharides and lipopolysaccharides. The potential to produce polysaccharides was generally promoted under reduced tillage due to the increased microbial biomass. We also found that the response of most potential producers of polysaccharides to tillage was site-specific, e.g., Oxalobacteraceae had higher potential to produce polysaccharides under reduced tillage at one site, and showed the opposite response at another site. However, the response of some potential producers of polysaccharides to tillage did not depend on site characteristics, but rather on their taxonomic affiliation, i.e., all members of Actinobacteria that responded to tillage intensity had higher potential for exopolysaccharide and lipopolysaccharide production specifically under reduced tillage. This could be especially crucial for aggregate stability, as polysaccharides produced by different taxa have different "gluing" efficiency. Overall, our data indicate that tillage intensity could affect aggregate stability by both influencing the absolute abundance of genes involved in the production of exopolysaccharides and lipopolysaccharides, as well as by inducing shifts in the community of potential polysaccharide producers. The effects of tillage intensity depend mostly on site-specific conditions

Sufficiency and subsistence : on two important concepts for sustainable development

Since in 1992 the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) has been held in Rio de Janeiro, efforts to achieve sustainable development appear to have made only insufficient progress, as the results of the 2012 follow-up conference show. One reason for this is that among the various paths to sustainability being discussed, the strategies enjoying greater support are those that continue to be committed to economic and material growth, this as opposed to those that question the growth paradigm. Among the latter are the sufficiency and subsistence approaches. The sufficiency approach delves into the causes and (supposed) boons of a continuous increase in material and immaterial goods. With the demand that individuals not always be forced to always want more, it points out a way to a structural transition in society. The subsistence approach, on the other hand, seeks to draft a path to greater autonomy and quality of life by strengthening regional, local or indi-vidual self-provisioning. To be in harmony with sustainability, it must be possible to freely choose the two ways of life; they must not be mandated by the authorities

Wystarczalność i samozaopatrzenie – w sprawie dwóch ważnych dla zrównoważonego rozwoju idei

Since in 1992 the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) has been held in Rio de Janeiro, efforts to achieve sustainable development appear to have made only insufficient progress, as the results of the 2012 follow-up conference show. One reason for this is that among the various paths to sustainability being discussed, the strategies enjoying greater support are those that continue to be committed to economic and material growth, this as opposed to those that question the growth paradigm. Among the latter are the sufficiency and subsistence approaches. The sufficiency approach delves into the causes and (supposed) boons of a continuous increase in material and immaterial goods. With the demand that individuals not always be forced to always want more, it points out a way to a structural transition in society. The subsistence approach, on the other hand, seeks to draft a path to greater autonomy and quality of life by strengthening regional, local or individual self-provisioning. To be in harmony with sustainability, it must be possible to freely choose the two ways of life; they must not be mandated by the authoritiesOd 1992 r., kiedy w Rio de Janeiro odbyła się konferencja ONZ na temat środowiska i rozwoju, starania ludzkości, aby zmierzać w kierunku zrównoważonego rozwoju, wydawają się być niewystarczające, jak pokazała kolejna konferencja z 2012 r. Jedna z przyczyn tego stanu związana jest z tym, że wśród różnych dyskutowanych ścieżek, które mają prowadzić do zrównoważoności, większe wsparcie otrzymują te, które nadal bazują na wzroście ekonomicznym i materialnym aniżeli te, które kwestionują paradygmat wzrostu. Pośród tych ostatnich znajdują się podejścia odwołujące się do wystarczalności i samozaopatrzenia. W ramach tej pierwszej analizie poddaje się przyczyny i (domniemane) dobrodziejstwa związane z ciągłym wzrostem dóbr materialnych i niematerialnych. Na podstawie żądania, aby nie zmuszać ludzi ciągle chcieć więcej, podejście te wskazuje ścieżkę do strukturalnej przemiany społeczeństwa. Natomiast podejście odwołujące się do samozaopatrzenia stara się wskazać drogi do osiągnięcia większej autonomii i lepszej jakości życia poprzez wzmocnienie regionalnego, lokalnego i indywidualnego samozaopatrzenia. Aby zapewnić zgodność ze zrównoważonym rozwojem, musi istnieć możliwość wolnego wyboru tych dwóch styli życia, nie mogą one być narzucone z góry