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Poland Agriculture
Of Poland's 18,727,000 hectares of agricultural land
(about
60 percent of the country's total area), 14,413,000
hectares were
used for crop cultivation, 265,000 for orchards, and about
4,048,500 for meadows and pastures in 1989. In most areas,
soil
and climatic conditions favored a mixed type of farming.
In 1990
the most important crops were grains, of which the highest
yields
came from wheat, rye, barley, and oats. Other major crops
were
potatoes, sugar beets, fodder crops, flax, hops, tobacco,
and
fruits (see
table 18, Appendix). Cultivation of corn
expanded
during the 1980s but remained limited. The northern and
east-central regions of the country mainly offered poorer
sandy
soils suitable for rye and potatoes. The richer soils of
the
central and southern parts of the country, excluding
higher
elevations, made those regions the centers of wheat, sugar
beet,
hops, and tobacco production. The more accessible land at
higher
elevations was used to cultivate oats or was left as
meadow and
pastureland. In 1989 almost half of Poland's arable land
was used
for the cultivation of the four major grains, another 13
percent
grew potatoes. All regions of Poland raised dairy cows,
beef
cattle, pigs, and poultry, and cultivated fruit, usually
as an
integral part of mixed farming.
In 1989 Poland was the second largest producer of rye
and
potatoes in the world. The latter were used as vegetables,
fodder
for pigs, and production of industrial starch and alcohol.
The
country occupied sixth place in the world in sugar beet,
milk,
and pig production. The quantity and quality of
agricultural land
ensured self-sufficiency and considerable quantities of
various
agricultural products and processed foodstuffs available
for
export. In 1990 Poland exported 26 percent of the bacon it
produced, as well as 63 percent of the ham, 16 percent of
the
tinned meat, 10 percent of the poultry, 17 percent of the
sugar,
and 67 percent of the frozen fruits and vegetables.
Data as of October 1992
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