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Poland Private and State Farms
In 1987 about 2.7 million private farms were in
operation.
About 57 percent of them were smaller than five hectares.
Of the
remaining farms, 25 percent were between five and ten
hectares
and 11 percent were between ten and fifteen hectares. Only
7
percent of private farms were larger than fifteen
hectares.
Whereas the majority of the private farms were below
optimum
size, the majority of state farms were excessively large.
Only 12
percent of the latter farms were below 200 hectares, and
60
percent were larger than 1,000 hectares.
In 1989 the private sector cultivated 76.2 percent of
arable
land and provided 79 percent of gross agricultural
production.
State farms, the main institutional form in state
ownership,
cultivated 18.8 percent of the total arable land and
produced
17.0 percent of gross output. Cooperative farms, the
dominant
form of state agricultural organization in other East
European
economies, were not important in Poland. In 1989 they
cultivated
only 3.8 percent of arable land and contributed 3.9
percent of
gross production.
In the 1980s, grain yields and meat output per hectare
were
higher in the socialist sector than in the private sector.
An
important factor in this difference was the more intensive
use of
fertilizers in state farms. On the other hand, the milk
yield per
cow was higher in the private sector. From the standpoint
of
overall performance, the private sector was less materialand
capital-intensive, and gross production per hectare and
the value
of product per unit of cost were higher in that sector.
Besides
being more efficient, private farms were also more
flexible in
adjusting production to obtain a higher product value.
Data as of October 1992
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