Area structure of farms in Poland against the background of other European Union countries

In: Wiadomości statystyczne / Glówny Urza̜d Statystyczny, Polskie Towarzystwo Statystyczne: czasopismo Głównego Urze̜du Statystycznego i Polskiego Towarzystwa = ˜Theœ Polish statistician, Band 65, Heft 9, S. 48-62

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to find out which group of EU countires determined on the basis of the specific features of the area structure of their farms Poland belongs to. Two aspects of this structure were taken into account: the number of farms in particular size groups of farmland and the area of farmland they occupy. Poland's situation was also presented in the regional context, taking into consideration the variety of agricultural activity. The research was based on data obtained from Eurostat and Statistics Poland for the year 2016. The following groups of farm area were considered: farmland under 2 hectares, 2–5 hectares, 5–10 hectares, 10–20 hectares, 20–50 hectares and 50 hectares and larger. Based on the fuzzy classification method, EU countries were classified into 4 groups according to the area structure of their farms. The results of the research demonstrated that Poland belongs to a group of countries with a high level of fragmentation of farms, jointly with Croatia, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Italy. Only 4 countries have a more fragmented farm structure: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Romania and Hungary. As regards the proportion of the area of farmland concentrated in large farms, it is unfavourable in Poland, also when compared to new EU member states, such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria. In Poland the largest farms, with an area of at least 50 hectares, account only for about 1/3 of the total farmland, which, except for Slovenia, is the lowest percentage in the entire EU.