Effects of Creation and Distribution of the Agricultural Property Stock of the State Treasury on the Structure of Agricultural Holdings

Family farm sector in Polish agriculture is characterised by a very negative area structure. Acceleration of ownership changes in agriculture, especially via transfer of agricultural holdings to this sector from the Agricultural Property Stock of the State Treasury, which was set up mainly on the basis of property from liquidated state-owned farms (PGR), was to contribute to strengthening the sector and improvement in its structure. This paper aims to evaluate the implementation of the goal. The research covers the 1990-1996 period, i.e. up to finalisation of the primary distribution of the Property Stock. The analysis covered the main assumptions on how to distribute the Property Stock and effects of realisation of these assumptions. Later, changes in ownership, legal and organisational, and area structure were analysed, especially changes in the individual farm groups, which were at that time described as family farms. Conducted analysis demonstrated that the planned effects were reached only to a small degree. Family farm sector has decreased. There has been a clear polarisation in the area structure of this sector. Average area of a farm in the sector increased only slightly. However, the sector of large-area farms owned by private or legal persons has increased significantly (beside cooperative farms, which existed prior to system transformation period)