Economic Aspects of the Innovative Alternatives Use in Agriculture

Agriculture is a sector of economy of crucial importance for global population, as it is a basic source of food and inputs used in other industry sectors. Also, agriculture is a sector primarily based on use of various inputs, while initiating usually harmful effects to local and global environment. In time of tightened economic, social and environmental expectations, burdened with frequent economic and energy shocks, or constant increase in population growth, contemporary agriculture is forced to seek for innovations, i.e. production alternatives that are environmentally friendly, economically justified and socially eligible. The main goal of the paper is to present the few successfully tested alternatives in the last few years that could be used in agriculture, before discussing their economic side. All alternatives are generally turned to renewable energy use at the farm level, mostly in irrigation, while they encourage wider involvement of automatisation and digitalisation in national agriculture