Farmer’s Pensions as an Instrument of Changing the Agrarian Structure in Poland

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.