agriculture and food economy in poland

AGRICULTURE
Figure 10. Structure of particular crops in 1990 and 2003 (%)
Source: GUS
Area sown
1995 - 12 892
2003 - 10 889
Total cereals
Pulses for grain
Potatoes
Sugar beets
Oilseed crops (rapeseed, agrimony)
Fodder crops
Field vegetables
Other
11,8
permanently increasing. Another important crop is potato, though its cultivation has
been constantly reduced, fodder crops and leguminous plants for grain. The share
of vegetables within the crops structure has been stable.
The areas sown to particular crops were adjusted to sales possibilities and
profitability of particular types of agricultural production. Generally, a supply
surplus persisted on the market except for the years characterised by extremely
disadvantageous weather conditions.
Despite a high share of cereals in the area sown to crops, Poland has been a net
importer of the majority of cereals. Imports do not only cover high-gluten varieties
of wheat, for the cultivation of which there are no appropriate agro-climatic
conditions in Poland, but also fodder grains (especially maize) and malting barley.
In 2003 yields of major crops were lower in than in 2002. Yields in Poland are
approximately twice as low as those in the EU. Compared to certain EU member
states such as Greece and Spain, cereals yields in Poland are higher, however, they are
significantly lower than in France, Germany, Denmark and the UK. Apart from worse
agro-climatic conditions, the cause is a much lower usage of mineral fertilisers (by ca
30%) and plant protection products (several times lower) than on average in the EU.
A favourable change in plant production is an increase in production
concentration, i.e. larger area under particular plants on big farms. An increase in
average area sown to the majority of crops (e.g. during the eight years between the
Agricultural Censuses in 1996 and 2002 – from 4.16 ha to 5.16 ha for cereals, from 1.50
ha to 2.64 ha for sugar beets, from 0.22 ha to 0.38 ha for vegetables) was accompanied
by a rise in the number of farms growing cereals on the area of at least 10 ha (from 124
800 to 157 900 farms), potatoes (from 884 to 1 389 farms), sugar beets (from 1 300
1
13
3 4,7
1,1
4,2
2,6
7
8,4
2,2 3,9
6,4 1,8 2,6
1995
2003
66,5
75