Services sector in structural transformations of agriculture and rural areas in Poland
2007
Radwan, A.
The paper comprises an analysis of services sector in agriculture and its influence on structural transformations of agriculture. The studies focus on four main regions of Poland, showing significant differences of their socio economic conditions in agriculture and rural areas. The characteristics of regional diversification of the investigated areas comprises an analysis of structural changes according to three-sector approach to economy, the level of gross national product and an assessment of basic production factors - labour resources in agriculture, farm area structure, technical equipment and the level of agricultural production. The results confirm a positive correlation between the intensity of using services by family farms and the level of technical and economic development of agriculture. Services are used to a greater degree by farms from the north-western regions of Poland (the Wielkopolskie and Zachodniopomorskie provinces), whereas the lowest level of their purchases is characteristic for farms located in the eastern part of the country (the Lubelskie province) and then in south eastern part (the Podkarpackie province). In Polish agriculture services for farms are supplementary in relation to farm machinery and equipment they own and only complement their deficiency. On the other hand these services do not play any active role in structural changes due to their low level. During the analyzed period of time services for farms were on a similar level of intensity, whereas farm structure reveal a dominance of services directly connected with agricultural production (agricultural services), but the level of services provided for the pre- and post-production phase is still low. From the institutional perspective the services market is characterized by a vast dispersion of service providers with small production potential. Private service providers prevail, who often do not have any official status and there are no diversified forms of service providing.
اظهر المزيد [+] اقل [-]