THE 2007–2013 AGRI-ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAM AS AN INSTRUMENT FOR THE RETARDATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES IN POLAND

Abstract

This paper describes regional differences in agriculturalmanagement methods, and attempts to present theimplementation scale of the 2007–2013 agri-environmentalprogram as an instrument slowing down the depletion of naturalresources in Poland. Two indicators were used as the basisfor the regional analysis of this Program: the number of applications(as a percentage of the total number of farms) andthe amount of funds received per hectare of agricultural land.The geographic scope of the analysis covered the whole countryand its different voivodeships, with districts being used asbasic units. A synthetic indicator of payment absorption levelsunder the agri-environmental program and spatial autocorrelationmethods were employed. The financial support hada positive impact on the concentration of agricultural landcovered by additional agri-environmental payments, whichwas noticeable in north and north-east Poland. The researchshows that the instruments slowing down the depletion ofnatural resources – such as the agri-environmental program –provide encouragement, above all, for the development ofmultifunctional agriculture. The multifunctionality of agricultureis more accentuated in Pomorskie, Zachodniopomorskie,Lubuskie, Dolnośląskie and Podkarpackie voivodeships, andless so in the south-central part of the country, i.e. in Opolskie,Śląskie, Małopolskie and Łódzkie voivodeships.