FROM THE CONCEPT OF MULTIFUNCTIONAL AGRICULTURE TO THE MEASURE OF MULTIFUNCTIONAL FARMING

The objective of this paper is to deeply analyze some of the theoretical andmethodological implications linked to the definition, the characterization, theevaluation and the estimation of the economic results of a multifunction agriculturalfarm. A deep study of these aspects seems essential for two reasons. On one hand,society is pressing farms to enlarge the existing set of goods and services; on the otherhand, sector policies offer to farms new opportunities, which regard the allocation ofservices linked to the different functions that agriculture is able to carry out. In theseconditions, in order to make the entrepreneur able to decide which services to set inmotion, considering the economical input that their activation could bring to the farm,it is fundamental to identify an analytic method that is capable to estimate and evaluatethe economic results of a multifunction farm.