Prospects for Polish Agriculture in the 1980s

The scattered land holdings and small average size that typify Polish farms have made the introduction of much conventional modern technology for crop and livestock production economically unfeasible. The Polish fertilizer industry is in serious need of capital overhaul simply to maintain current production levels, and only one new production facility is expected to come on line by 1990. In 1983 the Polish government ratified a program for economic recovery, focusing on 1983-1985 and containing plan guidelines for 1990. An examination of policy developments in agriculture leaves little hope for significant improvement in the efficiency of Polish agricultural production. During the seventies, agricultural development policy in Poland was based on the notion that state-fostered expansion of socialized agriculture could successfully deal with the perceived economic and political problems. The growth of net final production in agriculture, measured in constant zlotys, slowed considerably throughout the seventies and actually declined in 1976-1980.