ORGANIZATIONAL FORMS OF ORGANIC FARMS IN POLAND

Abstract

Organic farms form a perspective segment of the Polish agriculture, which havebeen developing very dynamically since Poland accession to the European Union(from 2004). Changes in the population of these agricultural holdings` group arethe result of the growing demand for organic agricultural products, the growingenvironmental awareness of society, as well as current agricultural policy focusedon agrienvironmental practices, for which farmers are remunerated in the form ofsubsidies. Organic production methods include good soil condition maintenance,plant nutritious needs and animal welfare requirements. Organic farms may bedifferently organised. There are three basic forms of organic farms organization,namely: farms that are in transition to organic production system (areimplementing environmental practices in stages); farms that combine organic andconventional production system; farms organized solely according to the organicprinciples. Legal requirements strictly specify what features an organic farm shouldhave, in each of the identified organisational forms. The aim of the article is tocompare organizational forms of organic farms in Poland in terms of productionand economic efficiency. There were analyzed organic farms in comparison toconventional farms included in Farm Accountancy Data Network 2015. Theresearch were conducted on the basis of indicators analysis, considering calculationreflected costs, production, economics and subsidy value connected with theCommon Agricultural Policy directed to farms.