Regionalna specjalizacja produkcji rolnej w Polsce = Regional specjalization of agricultural production in Poland

Agricultural production is subject to continuous economic and structural changes. Since the 1990s economic and organizational factors have exerted greater influence on agricultural production than environmental conditions. An important determinant affecting farming production was Poland’s accession to the EU, where agriculture was covered by Common Agricultural Policy. Proportion of plant products does not go directly to the market; it is processed on farms into animal products. At the same time, however, what has been developing for years are unfavorable relations between crop and animal products. The reasons for this state of affairs are complex. One of the ways to improve the results of agricultural production is specialization. This is quite a broad concept, embracing the research issue concerning agricultural production structure and directions of agricultural production, especially regarding commercial production which are defined in literature as directions of agricultural specialization (Kulikowski 2003). The aim of the study is to present changes in the regional specialization of crop and livestock production taking place in Poland in the years 2004‑2019. An attempt was made to answer the question in which agricultural production does a given region specialize and to what extent? The following research hypothesis was adopted: changes in the specialization of agricultural production in the regions are influenced by farmers benefiting from direct payments and other forms of financial aid under the Common Agricultural Policy. For the research on the regional specialization of agricultural production, the location quotient based on the share of crop and livestock commodity production in commodity production was used. The location quotient, apart from providing a static picture of the situation for comparative analyzes, allows for comparisons with regard to the dynamics of the specialization index, and to indicate differences in the dynamics of changes in individual agricultural production specializations. In the investigated period, crop production which is more dependent on climate conditions than animal breeding was much more diversified (changed over time). Western voivodships achieved a high level of specialization in plant production. It resulted from the agrarian structure of these regions, where large farms dominated. The lack of specialization in plant production was typical of the following voivodships: Podlaskie, Warmińsko-mazurskie and Wielkopolskie. With regard to animal production, the situation was different. The share of commercial animal production in the general commercial output was primarily affected by an apparent increase in the share of commercial milk production. This concerned north-eastern voivodships: Podlaskie and Warmińsko-mazurskie, which specialized in beef production as well. Wielkopolskie Voivodship also reached a high level of specialization not only in beef but mainly in pork production.

Użytki rolne w strukturze użytkowania ziemi w Polsce w XXI wieku = Agricultural land in the land use structure in Poland in the 21st Century

The purpose hereof is to present changes in the land use structure (with particular regard to agricultural land) in Poland in the first two decades of the 21st century. In the research procedure, close attention has been paid to the spatial aspects of the changes taking place. The analysis conducted at a national, provincial and communal level covered the period between 2002 and 2020 and was based on the materials made available by GUGiK in Warsaw. Political changes, as well as social and economic transformation have initiated profound changes in land use and the ownership system. Nowadays, these are also triggered by urbanisation processes and ageing of the agricultural population. Changes in the agricultural land resources and transformation in the land use structure identified in Poland are to a large extent associated with the applicable legislation that governs, inter alia, issues relating to the splitting of farms and to the agricultural land transactions. Unfortunately, the provisions thereof have been repeatedly amended, which has in no way been beneficial to the rational use of the agricultural land resources. Changes in the agricultural land resources have affected both farms and other forms of ownership. Agricultural land is considered as a kind of reservoir of land for investments Due to, in particular, the development of transport and housing needs in Poland, further agricultural land shrinkage is expected. It is necessary to ensure sustainable agricultural land management and to monitor changes in the land use structure.

Transformation of agriculture in Hungary in the period 1990‑2020

This paper aspires to provide a thorough overview of the transformation of the Hungarian agricultural sector from 1990 through to 2020. After a brief historical outline, three decades of changes and the present state are discussed in the context of the legislative framework, farm and ownership structure, production structure, land use and ecological sustainability. The changing role played by agriculture in the Hungarian economy and rural societies is also taken into consideration, while the overarching effects of EU accession and the introduction of the CAP are also investigated. The establishment of a legislative framework for privatisation and compensation in respect of the former collectivisation proved one of the major challenges during the transition to a market economy. As a result, this evened out the shares of all agricultural land in private and legal holdings in the first decade, with the number of smallholders exceeding one million. However, the following two decades were characterised by concentration, as the overall number of private holdings fell quickly, while there was an increase in numbers of those with more than 10 ha of utilised agricultural land. Hungary’s political and economic transition was followed immediately by a dramatic decline in terms of production output. However, after the initial plunge, crop production started to rise again rapidly, so that by the early 2000s it had surpassed what had been achieved during the communist era. In contrast, the crisis in livestock production proved to be more prolonged.

Mapa towarowości rolnictwa w Koncepcji Przestrzennego Zagospodarowania Kraju 2030 = Map of agricultural commodity in the National Spatial Development Concept 2030

The article presents a map, which was compiled in 2009 in cooperation with Prof. Roman Kulikowski for the National Spatial Development Concept 2030. It concerns the inclusion of agricultural commodities in connection with natural conditions for the development of this sector of economy. For the typology, a division into the following classes was proposed: in terms of the quality of agricultural production space: A – up to 45 points, B – 45.1 to 60 points, C – above 60 points and in terms of commodity quality per 1 ha of agricultural land: 1 – up to 1,000 PLN, 2 – 1,000 up to 2,000 PLN, 3 – above 2,000 PLN. It has been shown that in Poland there is no stronger interdependence between natural conditions and agricultural commercialization. The resulting typology was further used to show changes within particular 9 distinguished types in terms of total population and post-productive age in agglomeration (suburban) and non-agglomeration areas. A disturbing phenomenon of relatively fast depopulation and ageing of the population in areas with good natural conditions for the development of agricultural function was detected. If this is not related to agrarian overpopulation, it is a serious obstacle to the desired transformations in Polish agriculture. Typology of communes, due to natural conditions and agricultural commodities may be useful for research on the processes taking place in rural areas presenting diverse development level.

Zmiany w rolniczym użytkowaniu ziemi w Europie Środkowo-Wschodniej po upadku

The aim of this study is to diagnose and identify trends for agricultural land use structure in the Central and Eastern European countries. Particular attention has been paid to the spatial differentiation characterising that structure, and to the significance that diverse kinds of conditioning have had in shaping it. Analysis has extended to the basic structural elements of agricultural land that are arable land, grasslands and permanent crops, while the countries included are the East-Central Europe acceding to the EU, i.e., Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia and Bulgaria. The main sources of database have been Eurostat and FAO. The region under study emerges as very much diversified in terms of structure relating to structural elements of agricultural land. However, once the Eastern Bloc fell, all the countries experienced losses in area of agricultural land, as well as declines in the amounts of land growing permanent crops. Where key crops were concerned, the share of industrial species increase at the expense of vegetables, fruits and potatoes cultivation. Key factors underpinning observed trends for land use comprised privatisation and restitution of land, demographic processes in rural areas, domestic and EU agricultural policies as well as agro-ecological conditions.

Wiejska sieć osadnicza Polski w XXI wieku = Rural settlement network of Poland in the 21st century

The aim of this paper was to determine the changes in the rural settlement network in Poland in 2000‑2019. The authors analyzed the status and dynamics of quantitative changes in the rural settlement network and their spatial differentiation and attempted to identify the main causes influencing these variations. The research procedure was based on the hypothesis that changes in the rural settlement network in Poland observed in the 21st century are not unidirectional, which leads to the emergence of different types of areas with diverse trends in their socio-economic development. The study showed a decrease in the density of the rural settlement network, an increase in the average size of villages and a significant regional variation in the values of individual parameters. There are also considerable disproportions in the trends of changes in the settlement network depending on location of rural areas in relation to large cities.

Transformation of agriculture in Czechia in the period 1990‑2020

This paper characterises the development of Czech agriculture in the 30 years since the change of political regime. It notes that, although ownership has changed, the structure of large farms has been maintained. There has been a reduction in livestock production in particular, which has disrupted the traditional relationship between the two principal agricultural activities. The number of workers in the primary sector has fallen very rapidly, to less than 6% now, even in rural areas. Therefore, the communities in the Czech countryside are no longer dependent on agriculture, whose role is increasingly shifting to landscape maintenance and non-productive activities. At present, subsidies under the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy are the main driver in Czech agriculture. In the face of current challenges, attention needs to be paid to the environmental function of agriculture, while the impact of agricultural jobs on rural development is negligible.

Scenariusze rozwoju starzejących się wsi = Development scenarios for aging villages

Rural settlements are subject to changes under the influence of various factors. One of them is the change of population structures and the progressive aging of rural population. Growing share of elderly inhabitants is an unprecedented phenomenon. The author examines and evaluates changes in demographic structures at the level of statistical villages in Poland for the period of 1960‑2011. The research attempted to indicate possible scenarios of development for demographically ageing villages.

Selected aspects of the transformation of agriculture in the CEECs following the fall of the Eastern Bloc

Over the last three decades, agriculture in Central and Eastern Europe has undergone very profound change. This first and foremost reflected the collapse of the communist system, as well as accession to the European Union in the case of most of the CEECs. The work detailed here has thus had as its cognitive goal the identification of trends regarding selected components of agriculture’s spatial structure which have included agrarian structure, agricultural land use, and the structure of agricultural production. Attention has also been paid to what conditioned the transformation, as well as the spatial differences that characterised it. With a view to these objectives being achieved, 11 current EU Member States in the region were analysed, above all by reference to source materials from EUROSTAT and the FAO.