ABSTRACT
The present crisis in the agricultural sector - a consequence of a surplus of agricultural production - expressed in dwindling agricultural income and a drastic fall in the number of farms, places an existing by-product of the agrarian economy, an agriculturally shaped cultural landscape, to the centre of attention. In the light of current agricultural practice, how it will operate and cope in the face of increased competition and how will it be affected by the need to intensify means of production? The likely result is that agricultural and natural habitats will by no means be regarded as simple by products or even left-overs. Conversely, the further retreat of agriculture from land in areas not suited to intensive cultivation, endangers elementary functions which lie beyond the actual sphere of production. Landscape protection functions, with regard to the preservation of recreational areas, or the protection of habitats from natural disasters, may serve as examples.
