Transformations of the Polish agriculture[Трансформации В Польском Сельском Хозяйстве]

Agriculture has always been an extremely important branch of the Polish economy as a stabilizer of economic fluctuations, a source of basic consumer goods and raw materials for other branches of economy in the periods of instability, a guarantee of self-sufficiency and food security of the country, a protector of natural environment, a source of labor and an employer, and finally a significant factor of national identity and culture. Agricultural production occupies almost half of the Polish territory, and has always determined the main ways of using land and influencing natural environment and landscape. At the same time, for many years the Polish agriculture has been under political, economic, and environmental pressure that determined its numerous transformations. The article considers key changes of rural Poland under the economic transformations focusing on the ownership system at the start of political and economic reforms. The author assesses the role of Polish agriculture and its production potential within the national economy paying particular attention to the European Union budgetary support. Thus, the author aims to analyze all these changes on the basis of statistical data of the Main Statistical Office and Agrarian Property Agency focusing on the transformations of rural areas of former state farms.