Although increasing numbers of research papers regarding biochar are being published worldwide, in some countries growing interest in biochar has only recently been observed; this is true of Poland. We analysed information on biochar research in Poland alongside lessons learned elsewhere in order to identify the significant opportunities and risks associated with biochar use. This data fed into a GIS-based multicriteria analysis to identify areas where biochar application could deliver greatest benefit. We found that 21.8% of agricultural land in Poland has at least moderate indication for biochar use (soil organic matter below 2% and ph below 5.5), while 1.5% was categorized as a priority as it also exhibited contamination. Potential barriers identified included biomass availability and associated risks of indirect land-use change due to possible national and transnational biomass production displacement. Biochar use could have positive global consequences as a climate change mitigation strategy, particularly relevant in a country with limited alternatives. Scaling up a mitigation technology that is viable on account of its co-benefits might be cost-effective, which could, in turn, adjust national perspectives and stronger involvement in developing mitigation policies at the regional level. Biochar has much promise in temperate conditions and further research should therefore be assigned to explore biochar’s environmental and socio-economic impacts.

Increasing the European Union’s (EU) current efforts to protect the natural environment, especially in the context of protecting agricultural soils, is one of its basic challenges. The European Commission (EC) is now ready and willing to strongly strengthen protection of the natural environment. Activities are primarily supported by the European Green Deal (EGD) strategy from 2019 and its thematic strategies, as well as the currently revised Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for 2023–2027. Further direct support for farms from Areas facing Natural or other Specific constraints (ANCs support), compensating for them at least some of the additional costs and lost income related to the difficulties for agricultural production, will be one of the most important actions of the future CAP in the context of the protection of agricultural soils. It should be added that, in recent years, all EU Member States, including Poland (in 2019), have carried out a mandatory new delimitation of ANCs according to the same rules established by the EC Joint Research Center (EC JRC) under the CAP 2014–2020. The aim of the study is to characterize the organizational situation of Polish agriculture, to indicate the direction and strength of the changes taking place in it, as well as the main determinants of its further functioning in areas (communes) with a particularly high saturation of current ANCs, as compared to other areas, with and without ANCs. It is also important to present the economic consequences and development opportunities for farms conducting agricultural production in these areas. The results of the study show the condition of Polish agriculture and changes taking place in this sector in areas with different saturation and specificity of ANCs related to challenges for environmental protection included in the EGD strategy and the current and future CAP. The research results will also provide an important basis for policymakers in undertaking effective agricultural support in ANCs and for the scientific community to develop agricultural research that can meet the most pressing challenges faced in the areas. It should be noted that the study emphasizes the significance of the new institutional economics, the postulates of which can provide solid support for the actions taken to better protect ANCs.

The purpose of this study is to characterize municipalities with a high share of LFAs (specific type zone I) as well as to assess the functioning of farms located in such municipalities against the background of analogous farms in non-LFA municipalities which kept accounts for the Polish FADN...