Industrial agricultural practices and environmental pollution: Examples of eight developed countries

ABSTRACT Şahin, O., Industrial Agricultural Practices and Environmental Pollution: Examples of Eight Developed Countries, Nuh Naci Yazgan University Social Sciences Institute, Department of Economics, Master's Thesis, Kayseri, 2024. Industrial agriculture refers to a situation where modern techniques and machinery are used in agricultural production. In the face of the rapid increase in the world population, industrial agriculture is considered important to increase agricultural efficiency and production with synthetic fertilizers, chemical pesticides and high-yield grain hybrids. However, the other aspect of the matter is that over time, industrial agriculture began to cause serious damage to the environment, and high environmental costs emerged along with high agricultural productivity. In this study, the effect of some industrial agriculture indicators on environmental pollution was analyzed using data from 8 developed countries that are exporters of agricultural products with industrial agricultural practices (Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands and the USA) and the panel ARDL model. In the first model, the effects of Fertilizer Consumption (GT), Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery Added Value (VAT) and Grain Yield (TV) on Agricultural Nitrous Oxide Emissions (NO) were examined and a long-term relationship was found between the variables. While a 1% increase in GT causes a significant increase of approximately 0.36% in Agricultural Nitrous Emission (NO), a 1% increase in KD causes a 0.08% increase (p<0.05). The highest emission increase belongs to TV with an increase of 0.73%. In Model 2, Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions (kt CO2 equivalent) were selected as the dependent variable, and GT, TV, Agriculture, KD and Primary Energy Consumption (EN) were selected as independent variables. In the analysis results, other variables except the TV coefficient are significant. The largest impact on total greenhouse gas emissions comes from the use of EN, and a 1% increase causes a 1.14% increase in GHG. In this study, the destruction of industrial developments on the environment is discussed in terms of industrial agricultural practices. Agricultural practices that are less harmful to the environment and renewable use are important for sustainable development and life. Key words: Industrial Agriculture, Environmental Pollution, Panel ARDL