Zmiany Strukturalne Rolnictwa: Wielkość, Efektywność Techniczna I Specjalizacja Polskich Gospodarstw Rolnych

The structural changes that took place in the Polish agricultural sector after Poland’s accession to the European Union in 2004 resulted from both market processes and the impact of the Common Agricultural Policy. The currently highlighted challenges of climate protection, innovation prompt a fresh discussion of the directions of changes in Polish agriculture adopted after 2004. The objective of this article is to investigate the structural transformations that have occurred in the Polish agricultural sector since 2004 and to determine their impact on the technical efficiency of Polish farms. The analyses used data from the Central Statistical Office (GUS) and FADN. Technical efficiency was estimated using the DEA method, which made it possible to assess the relative efficiency of Polish farms in different economic size classes. The results indicate a significant change in the structure of Polish agriculture. Since 2004, there has been a significant concentration of farms, both in terms of land area and economic size of farms. The economic concentration of farms has increased their technical efficiency. The competitive position of Polish agriculture in the European Union has strengthened. Concurrently, the agricultural sector has undergone shifts in farm specialization, with the largest share of farms in Poland currently specializing in field crop production, accounting for 48.1% of all agricultural holdings.