Title: PRIVATE FARMING DEVELOPMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF PRESERVATION OF SOIL ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
Abstract: The issue of ecosystem services is a relatively new concept in economic theory.This is the concept considered problematic, due to the difficulty of defining the benefits provided to people by ecosystems and their measurement and valuation.Some of these services are strongly associated with soil.Soil is one of the basic environmental resources necessary to conduct agricultural production.It fulfills many of non-production functions and provides services that are essential to human existence.Based on the crucial classification developed by the United Nations, we attribute providing the following ecosystem services to soil: basic/supporting, provisioning, regulating and cultural.Variety of services which are produced by soil causes the need to pay more attention to its quality, which is to a large extent derived from agricultural practices.The assessment of agriculture in the context of the farms' organization allows to determine whether the present profile of agricultural production is conducive to maintaining environmental services or whether it destabilizes environmental processes.What seems especially important from this perspective is highlighting the changes in agriculture over the years, in the context of their impact on the condition of the natural environment.