Since World War II fundamental structural change has taken place in People's Poland. The nation has been transformed from an agricultural and raw-material producing country into an industrial and agricultural one. Despite this, agriculture remains a very important branch of the national economy, providing employment for approximately six million people, or about 36 per cent of the total actively employed population. According to the preliminary data from the 1970 census, the number of people in our country who derive their livelihood from agriculture was 9.6 million, that is, 29.5 per cent of the total population. Agriculture and the agricultural food industry account for approximately one third of the national income. The importance of agriculture is further underlined by the fact that agricultural products account for more than half of the national consumption fund. Also, during the past twelve years exports of agricultural origin have been a significant source of foreign currency. Many factors, and above all the demographic situation, are responsible for the fact that small-scale agricultural production remains the dominant sector in Poland. In 1971 the small farms represented 83 per cent of the cultivated area, the State Farms 15.1 per cent, cooperative farms 1.3 per cent, and the Agricultural Circles 0.6 per cent. However, the socialized sector's share of the cultivated area, and the total value of its production, is slowly but systematically increasing. The State Farms' significance is greater than is indicated by their share in the surface of cultivated land. They play an important role in the intensification of agricultural production, supplying agriculture with high-yield grain, fodder crop seeds, seedlings, and pedigree stock. Their role in this regard is constantly increasing. Despite the fact that small-scale farms are the principal sector in agriculture, the state has at its disposal a number of effective means to influence the development and direction of the entire agricultural production. It should be noted that Polish agriculture exists within the overall framework of a socialist economy. Individual farming is subordinated to the socialist system in a variety of ways and at different levels. The state, besides directly administering the State Farms, also exerts indirect but effective influence on individual farms by providing various