Structural Change of the Major Field Crops and Future Prospect for Agriculture of the Southern Great Plain

Abstract

About 80% of the territory of Hungary is arable land, which includes forests, reeds, fishponds and agricultural areas. Different production structures have developed in different parts of the country, depending on the natural geographical features and cultural factors, which show different changes over time. The aim of the study is to analyse how the production area and average yield of the main field crops (wheat, maize, sunflower and rapeseed) grown in the Southern Great Plain change in the period between 2000 and 2019. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine whether the share of the cultivated areas of the studied field crops in the main regions of the country differed significantly. We also examined trends in the share of wheat, rapeseed, sunflower, and maize acreage in nationally cultivated production areas. The databases of the Central Statistical Office, Hungary were used for the analysis.