Available Agricultural Area by Utilization Categories and Ownership Structure of Holdings in the Republic of Serbia

The subject of research in this paper is the analysis and presentation of data on agricultural holdings, the structure of available and utilized area. The data and calculated indicators represent a comprehensive overview of the structural characteristics of national agriculture, but they are also an internationally comparable database, based on key features of agriculture. The main goal of this paper is to determine and explain more comprehensively and in detail by using appropriate methods, and based on available data, the condition of utilized agricultural area (hereinafter: UAA) and its quantitative and qualitative characteristics by utilization categories and manner of its use;types of agricultural holdings and statistical regions and lower statistical units of data grouping. Implementation of such a defined basic research goal indicates necessity of more detailed and continuous study of the causes that led to the reduction of available agricultural area and especially its better and more important production categories of utilization and measures and activities to be taken to eliminate or reduce the causes of inadequate management of agricultural area in the coming period. The importance of this research arises from the fact that the results on utilized agricultural area can be used to adopt appropriate measures and undertake certain activities in land and overall agricultural and rural policy related to sustainable utilization, arrangement and protection of agricultural land and more balanced integrated development of rural areas, as well as to find better solutions in the field of utilization, ownership sector and conditions of agricultural area management.