Development and competitiveness of bio-economy: the response of Italian farms to the global crisis

In EU Countries in the last decade there has been a reduction of the number of farms, combined with a significant increase in their average size. First response to crisis in EU agriculture is the enhancement the competitiveness of farms in bio-economy issues, i.e. quality: EU farmers must build on high quality reputation to sustain competitiveness and profitability. Main goal of this work is to measure the level of competitiveness of Italian farms, focusing on environmental efforts and food quality issues and taking into account rural-urban areas diversity. It has been used two synthetic indices (for environment and for food quality), based on basic indicators. To ensure the comparability of the different target areas, it has been used the NSP 2007/2013 classification with Italian areas aggregated in four major local categories (A, B, C, D). Here it has been chosen to use and exploit the 6th General Agricultural Census data (2010). For the analysis, it was applied the software "Ranker" developed by Istat with three different methods used. Results show that the D area of Sicilia is the first one in the ranking of Environmental Index, while the A area of Sardegna is the last one (69° place); in the Food Quality Index the A area of Bolzano is at the top and the B area of Sicilia is at the last place. In addition, it has been focused on the basic indicators that influenced the final results. Moreover, it has been shown the results of the two indices for each area (A, B, C, D) together with a comparison with their economic value (standard output). This work could be the starting point for considering the possibility to use synthetic indices to study just some aspects of a so complex theme as development, competitiveness and grow for farms.