Common agricultural policy and sustainable management of areas with natural handicaps. The Veneto Region case study

Using a case study based in Veneto Region (Italy), the paper assesses whether the common agricultural policy influences the gross sellable product per hectare of utilised agricultural area, as a proxy of land productivity, and whether this effect changes according to different geographical areas (mountain, hill or plain). The regression analysis shows that the gross sellable product per hectare of utilised agricultural area is negatively correlated with the location of the farm in the mountains, confirming the existence of a gap between mountain and plain farms. The sellable product per hectare of utilised agricultural area is, moreover, positively influenced by the financial support of the first pillar for all farm locations with the exception of hill areas. The European payments of the second pillar, on the other hand, are positively correlated only with the gross sellable product per hectare of utilised agricultural area of hill farms. This trend, far from promoting a balanced and sustainable territorial development, is fuelling a dual agriculture with abandonment of agricultural land, together with environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity in areas with natural handicaps. The Farm Accountancy Data Network of 2015 is the source of microdata.