Abstract

The pace of structural changes in Polish agriculture is slower than in other European Union countries. At the same time, it should be noted that this process in various provinces is also diversified. The reasons for this are, among others, the historical, social and economic conditions of individual regions. To accelerate this process, structural policy measures have been introduced that would foster land concentration and farm enlargement. This was to be served by the structural pensions scheme for farmers ‒ one of the measures of the Rural Development Plan for 2004-2006 and the Rural Development Program for the years 2007-2013.

The program was intended to encourage farmers to stop agricultural activities in the preretirement age and to transfer their farms in a way that would improve the area structure of farms in Poland and reduce their number. This measure was intended to also contribute to the improvement of the viability of agricultural holdings in Poland and to provide a sufficient source of income for farmers who cease farming. The expected effect of the structural pensions scheme is changes in the area structure of agricultural holdings, which will contribute to the reduction of farm fragmentation, as well as to the requalification of a part of underutilized agricultural land for nonagricultural purposes. Due to the assumed objective of the action, as well as the economic effectiveness of the funds spent, in the RDP for the years 2007-2013, it was decided to tighten the access criteria in relation to this action compared to the previous programming period. The extent to which Poland’s countryside benefits from integration with the European Union will affect the prospects for its development for many decades. Instruments implemented under the RDP for the years 2004-2006 and RDP for the years 2007-2013 were to facilitate the modernization of agriculture, and hence to ensure sustainable development of rural areas. The process of changes in the countryside is not limited to transformations in agriculture itself, but above all to changes in its surroundings.

Keywords: farmer’s pensions, Rural development Plan 2004-2006, Rural Development Programme 2007-2013, agrarian structure.

JEL Classification: Q1.

Cite as: Pięta, P. (2018). Farmer’s Pensions as an Instrument of Changing the Agrarian Structure in Poland. SocioEconomic Challenges, 2(2), 60-65. DOI: 10.21272/sec.2(2).60-65.2018

References

1. Baborska B. (2006), Kontrowersje wokół reformy wspólnej polityki rolnej Unii Europejskiej (The controversy over the reform of the common agricultural policy of the European Union). Zakres i formy interwencjonizmu państwowego we współczesnych systemach gospodarczych, pod red. D. Kopycińskiej, Szczecin.
2. Halamska M. (2006), Renty strukturalne a przemiany polskiej wsi. Uwagi socjologa (Framer’s pensions and changes in the Polish countryside. Notes of a sociologist). Wieś i Rolnictwo, nr 2(131).
3. Klimczak B., Olszewski L., Pisz Z. (1999), Integracja europejska: transformacja systemowa w Polsce, procesy dostosowawcze (European integration: systemic transformation in Poland, adjustment processes), Wrocław.
4. Leopold A. (1997): Rolnictwo w procesie przemian i rozwoju gospodarki (Agriculture in the process of changes and development of the economy), Warszawa.
5. Lichorowicz A. (1996): Problematyka struktur agrarnych w ustawodawstwie wspólnoty europejskiej (Problems of agrarian structures in the legislation of the european community), Kraków.
6. Otoliński E. (2007), Przemiany w strukturze agrarnej w Polsce południowej w latach 1996-2005 (Transformations in the agrarian structure in southern Poland in 1996-2005). Roczniki Naukowe Stowarzyszenia Ekonomistów Rolnictwa i Agrobiznesu, t. IX, z. 1, Warszawa –Poznań -Kraków.
7. Paszkowski S. (2002), Prawne aspekty funkcjonowania wcześniejszych emerytur rolniczych w Unii Europejskiej (Legal aspects of the functioning of earlier agricultural pensions in the European Union). Ubezpieczenia społeczne. Wieś i rolnictwo, pod red. M. Adamowicza, Warszawa.
8. Rudnicki H. (2005), Przemiany strukturalne w polskim rolnictwie w okresie transformacji systemowej (Agricultural reforms in Poland in the period between and post-war). Kwestia agrarna w Polsce i na świecie, Warszawa.
9. Sikorska-Wolak I. (2007), Renty strukturalne szansą na przyśpieszenie wymiany pokoleń w rolnictwie polskim (Framer’s pensions as an opportunity to accelerate the generation exchange in Polish agriculture), Stowarzyszenie Ekonomistów Rolnictwa i Agrobiznesu. Roczniki Naukowe, t. VIII, z. 4, Warszawa.
10. Statistical Yearbook of Agriculture 2016, Warsaw 2017.
11. Szemberg A. (1995), Przemiany agrarne w chłopskim rolnictwie (wyniki sondażu z 1994 r.)( Agrarian transformations in peasant agriculture (results of a survey from 1994). Instytut Ekonomiki Rolnictwa i Gospodarki Żywnościowej, nr 79, Warszawa.
12. Tomkiewicz E. (2002): Funkcje rent strukturalnych w procesie integracji polskiego rolnictwa z Unią Europejską (Functions of framer’s pensions in the process of integration of Polish agriculture with the European Union). Oeconomia nr 1 – 2, Scientiorum Polonorum, ACTA, Warszawa.
13. Trawiński K. (2001), Renty strukturalne w rolnictwie (Framer’s pensions in agriculture). Służba Pracownicza nr 10.
14. Wawrzyniak B. M. (2004): Przemiany struktury agrarnej w rolnictwie polskim (Transformation of the agrarian structure in polish agriculture), Włocławek.
15. Ziętara W. (2005), Reformy rolne w Polsce w okresie między i powojennym (Agricultural reforms in Poland in the period between and post-war). Kwestia agrarna w Polsce i na świecie, Warszawa 2005.
16. Dziennik Ustaw (Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland) (2001) nr 52, poz. 539.
17. Own study based on BDL GUS data, Central Statistical Office, ARMA data.