Proceedings: 3rd International Conference on Food and Agricultural Economics: CHANGES IN THE LEVEL OF EDUCATION OF FARMERS IN POLAND

Education plays a pivotal role in the running of farms the world over and Poland is no exception, the level of education of farm owners is one of the key factors of their development. Considerations of the article were subordinated to questions about trends and diversification of the level of education among the agricultural population in Poland. Due to the biological and technical progress and the need to adapt to changing conditions in the market economy, special attention should be directed to the level of knowledge available to household members. Although knowledge is immeasurable and it is difficult to determine its level, education seems to be the best measure (Stawicka, 2012). However, the analysis was made with full awareness that this is not a perfect measure, because not always education in the formal sense coincides with actual knowledge. Nevertheless, it affects the level of living standards of households connected with agriculture, translating into satisfying the needs and development possibilities of the farm (Klerkx, 2012). In 2010-2017, both the number of family farms and those working there decreased. This process resulted from the liquidation of small farms and the transition of people associated with them, both to the non-agricultural job market and to the group of inactive people. Among farm families, the share of older age categories increased. The percentage of farm owners with a relatively higher level of general education increased, and to a lesser extent, with school agricultural preparation. The tendency to improve the level of qualifications concerned farmers for whom income from agricultural production was important for household budgets as well as for persons managing farms focused on work outside agriculture. The improvement in the level of vocational education mainly concerned users of large and developing entities (Dudek, 2018). It should be emphasized that the level of education, especially of managers of farms (higher agricultural preparation) had a direct impact on the speed and effects of implementing technical, technological, social and organizational innovation, including eco-innovation, as it involved obtaining financial resources for business development. Among family-oriented family oriented farms with a relatively large production potential, progress has been made in professional preparation for the profession of a farmer, seeking knowledge or implementing agricultural investments. The article used the data of the Central Statistical Office published in the study Agricultural Property Characteristics that came from the General Agricultural Census 2010 survey and the results of the farm structure survey (BSGR) carried out in 2013 and 2016. The study emplyed the comparative method and statistical data analysis