CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

Poland covers an area of 312 600 km², or about 31 million ha, of which 60 percent is farmland and 29 percent woodland (Table 1). Almost the whole territory is located in the Baltic Sea Basin, with a very small area of the southeastern part of the country in the Black Sea Basin. The rivers Oder and Vistula flow across the whole Polish territory and a number of small rivers discharge directly into the Baltic Sea. More than half of the coastal inhabitants of the Baltic Sea Basin live in Poland, using 40 percent of the arable land situated there; hence the high impact of the country on the pollution of this sea (Fotyma and Terelak, 1994).

The productive farmland of about 18 million ha supports a population of 38.8 million people, i.e. about 0.46 ha per person. Private farmers are the major landholders, occupying 76 percent of the farmland, the remainder belonging to the Agency of State Treasury Fund for Land Ownership and the few cooperatives. About 28 percent of the total labour force is currently employed in agriculture and each farmer produces sufficient food to support about six non-farming persons.

Table 1. Land utilization in Poland, averages for 1999-2001

Natural farming conditions are poor, due to the prevalence of light, sand-derived soils and the unfavourable climate. The length of the growing period averages 210 days and is comparable to that in Scandinavian countries. During May to September, evapotranspiration in Poland exceeds rainfall, resulting in a continuous water deficit, especially on light soils with low water holding capacity. Generally the quality-rating index for the climate in Poland is about 75 to 80 points and for the soils also about 75 to 80 points, as compared with the average of 100 points for western Europe. As a result of combined soil and climate ratings, the average value of the agricultural production area is about 57 to 64 points (Table 2).

Table 2. Comparison of natural conditions of agriculture in Poland and western Europe

* Calculated by Górski T. (unpublished) based on the duration of growing season.
** Calculated by Witek T. (unpublished) based on soil maps of Europe.

The above-synthesized index has been used to calculate that, for each inhabitant of Poland, there are about 0.27 to 0.31 ha (instead of 0.45 ha) of farmland, a value comparable to that of western Europe. Thus, the inputs (particularly of fertilizers) necessary to obtain a yield of 3.1 tonnes of cereals per hectare in Poland (present capacity) would produce yields of 4.8 to 5.4 tonnes cereal grains in France, Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany.

Soils

The agricultural landscape originates from the period of glaciations. The Scandinavian glacier covered the present day Polish territory three times, shaping the oldest soils in the southern part of the country (Mindel glaciations) and the youngest in the northern part of the country (Wurm glaciations). Due to the high diversity of the parent rocks (Table 3) and to different geological and pedological processes, a substantial number of soil types and sub-types have developed in Poland.

According to the Polish soil classification system (Systematyka gleb Polski 1998), there are 35 different soil types and 78 sub-types. The most common soil types are brown soils, acid brown soils, grey brown podsolic soils, rusty soils and podsolic soils. A much smaller area is covered by chernozem soils, rendzina soils, black soils and alluvial soils.

Table 3. Parent rocks of the Polish soils (Lekan and Terelak, 1997)

A soil map of Poland is given in Figure 1, derived from the SOVEUR database (FAO/ISRIC, 2000) using the FAO Revised Legend (FAO, 1988) as a classification system.

Grasslands are located mainly on alluvial muck soils, muck soils and peat soils. Most of the soils have developed from loose, post-glacial rocks and only a small area is covered by soils derived from massive rock. The soils classified as very suitable or suitable for agriculture account for only 23 percent of arable land. Those classified as of moderate suitability cover about 47 percent. Marginal and unsuitable soils account for 30 percent of the land (Strzemski et al. 1973). Parts of the unsuitable Polish soils are still under cultivation but the area of set-aside land is increasing steadily.

The soils in Poland are commonly acid and low in plant nutrients (Table 4). Unfertile and acid soils account for 50 percent to 65 percent of arable land and only 34 percent to 50 percent of soils can be rated as highly fertile.

Figure 1. Dominant Soil Map of Poland

Table 4. Fertility status of Polish soils

*Alkaline, very high + neutral, high + 1/2 slightly acid, medium.
Unpublished data

Soil acidity is correlated with the low content of available magnesium and is one of the most limiting factors for soil productivity in Poland. The next most limiting factor is the low potassium status of soils. This has deteriorated during the past five years due to a very low consumption of potassium fertilizers.

Agricultural structure

The course of the history of Poland in the last 200 years has contributed substantially to the present day status of agriculture. From the end of 18th century until the First World War Poland was conquered and divided between Austria, Prussia and Russia. The serfs were enfranchised in 1811, 1848 and 1863 in the Prussian, Austrian and Russian - annexed parts of Poland respectively. In the partition period, agriculture developed most quickly in the Prussian and very slowly in the Russian annexed parts of the country. After the Second World War, Poland lost a substantial part of territory in the East and recovered the old, historical, part of the territory in the West. On the recovered territory, the agricultural land was partly managed by the big state-owned farms and partly attributed to the peasants who had moved from the lost territory. In 1990/91 the formerly state-owned farms were taken over by the Agency of State Treasury Fund for Land Ownership and are being restructured. The main forms of this process are the leasing and selling of farms to individuals or joint venture companies.

For all these reasons, the structure of agriculture in Poland with respect to ownership rights, size and economic conditions of farm holdings is extremely varied. According to the last inventory, made in 1996 (GUS, 1996), (the next inventory was made in 2002 and the preliminary results should be available in 2002/2003) the total number of farm holdings in Poland is 3 066 535, mostly in the private sector and only 2 016 farms in the public sector. Of the number of private farm holdings, 66.6 percent i.e. roughly 2 million, have an area over one ha and are classified as individual farms. The remaining 33.4 percent, with an area below one ha each, are classified as agricultural plots. As regards the numbers, most of the individual farms fall in the 1 to 7 ha category (68.2 percent) and only 8.5 percent of the farms in the category of more than 15 ha (Figure 2). In terms of area, the small farms (1 to 7 ha) occupy 30.8 percent of the agricultural land and the large ones (over 15 ha) 35.5 percent of the agricultural land (Figure 3). The average size of an individual farm in Poland is about seven ha. The average size of a farm in the public sector is about 600 ha.

Regions in Poland

The natural, economic and socio-technical conditions of agriculture are very different across Poland. Consequently, a number of systems have been developed for dividing the country's territory into regions or zones. On 1 January 1999 a new administrative division of Poland into 16 provinces (Table 5) came in force. Some of the factors taken into consideration in delimiting the new provinces were the natural, economic and socio-technical conditions for agriculture. Therefore the new provinces, with some approximation, can be treated as the regions for analyses concerning agriculture, including this report on fertilizer use by crops.

Table 5 Codes used for the different provinces or regions *

* These codes are used in the tables that follow.

Figure 2. Structure of individual farms according to number in percentage of farms number

Figure 3: Structure of individual farms according to area in percentage of farms area

Table 6. General characteristics of the regions/provinces in Poland

* A composite factor of the agricultural land usability, including soil quality, agro climate, relief and soil amelioration (higher value = better conditions).

** A composite factor of the soil pH and the content of available phosphorus, potassium and magnesium (higher value = better the soil fertility status).

*** Based on soil bonitation, share of individual crops in the crop structure and crop yield in the field experiments (non-limiting treatments) (Fotyma, Krasowicz 2001, 2001a).

The general characteristics of these regions are presented in Table 6.

According to the results of multivariate statistical analysis, the 16 regions can be grouped into three clusters (Figure 4).

There are eight regions in the first cluster: Dls, Kuj, Lus, Opl, Pom, Sls, Wlp and Zpm. They are characterized by a highly efficient crop production that approaches most closely the potential level. This can be explained by a higher consumption of fertilizers than the average for Poland and a generally good soil fertility status.

Figure 4. Regions and clusters of regions in Poland

It is interesting that natural conditions for crop production in some regions of this cluster are not particularly good (e.g. Lus, Sls and Pom). However, in these regions a quite substantial area of agricultural land is excluded from agricultural production and left as set-aside land. This concerns, most probably, the worst soils, originating from gravel and sand as the parent rocks.

Wlp region deserves particular attention. In spite of poor natural conditions the level of agricultural production is very high. This can be explained by historical reasons. With the exception of region Sls, the size of farms in other regions of this cluster exceeds the average farm size for Poland as a whole. Generally speaking, agriculture in most regions in this cluster is fully developed and is up to western Europe standards. The consumption of mineral fertilizers is fairly high, the soil fertility status is rather good and the farm size is higher than the average for Poland. A substantial area of the land belongs to the public sector, which makes possible the enlargement of individual farms.

The third cluster includes three regions located in Central Poland: Lod, Maz and Pod. These are characterized by extensive farm management practices reflected in a low consumption of mineral fertilizers, light soils of low fertility and medium-sized farms. The public sector is practically absent from agriculture and few farms have an area over 50 ha. Nevertheless the size of farms is slightly higher than the average for Poland, which gives some hope for further development of its agriculture. Another positive feature is the high stocking level and consequent production of manure.

In an intermediate position, cluster two comprises five regions in the eastern part of the country: Lub, Mal, Pdk, Swi and Wrm. These regions, with exception of Wrm, have a prevalence of very small farms and a subsistence type of agriculture. In spite of better soils, but of low fertility, crop production is much lower compared with cluster one. This can be explained partly by a very low consumption of fertilizers, not compensated by manure production.

Crops

Most arable land in Poland is under cereals (Table 7). Cereals cover about 70 percent of arable land in five regions Kuj, Lub, Opl, Pod and Wlp. In the three first-mentioned regions this is explained by the good soils and prevalence of farms oriented towards crop production. In the Pod region, cereals (mainly rye, oats and mixtures) are used for cattle production and in Wlp region for pig production. Only in southeastern Poland (Mal, Pdk and Sls) is the share of cereals as low as 50 percent. Winter and spring wheat prevail, followed by rye, mixed cereals and winter and spring barley. Triticale and oats are grown on smaller areas.

Table 7. Land utilization in regions of Poland (Thousand ha)

Source: GUS, 1999-2001.

In recent years, for the first time in the history of Polish agriculture, the share of wheat has been higher than the share of rye. This trend is particularly noticeable in regions Dls, Lub and Opl, which are characterised by good quality, fertile soils. A particular feature of cereal production in Poland is the high share of cereal mixtures (mainly oats + barley) covering over 10 percent of the arable land. On light, acid soils cereal mixtures give a higher yield than each of its components. In the western part of Poland (regions Dls, Opl and Wlp), maize, grown for both grain and silage, is gaining in importance.

The share of potatoes and fodder crops is decreasing. Potatoes are grown on an area accounting for 13 to 15 percent of arable land in only five regions (Lod, Mal, Maz, Pdk and Swi). In all these regions very small, self-subsistence farms account for most of the agricultural land. In northern and western Poland (regions Kuj, Lus, Wrm, Zpm) the share of potatoes is already close to 4 percent to 5 percent of arable land. Sugar beet and rapeseed maintain their position, with the highest concentration in Dls, Kuj, Opl, Pom, Wlp and Zpm regions, characterized by bigger, more intensive farms. In recent years, winters have been rather unsuitable for rapeseed production but it is most likely that this crop will recover a leading position in Poland. Fodder crops including maize for silage, fodder beet, annual and perennial crops, cover on average about 8 percent of the arable land. A very serious drop in cattle and sheep numbers explains the low and still falling share of these crops.

During the past decade, a new phenomenon for Polish agriculture is a quite substantial proportion of set aside and fallow land. This occurred after transformation from a centrally planned to a market oriented economy. In Lus, Pdk, Sls, Wrm and Zpm regions, the proportion of the abandoned area amounts to 20 to 30 percent of the arable land. In the regions where most land belongs to individual farmers the problem of abandoned land is less serious. The lowest share of set-aside land is registered in Opl and Wlp regions, which are characterized by intensive agriculture (Table 8). The share of set-aside land must be taken into consideration when analyzing the consumption of mineral fertilizers in terms of kg NPK (N + P₂O5 + K₂O) per ha of agricultural land (including the set-aside area). The set-aside area is evidently left without fertilization.

The yield of cereals in Poland is low by western standards and the three-year average is only 2.85 t/ha. The highest yielding cereal crop, excepting maize for grain, is wheat (mainly winter wheat), followed by triticale and barley (mainly spring barley). The yields of rye and oats are almost one third lower but on very light and light soils these are the prevailing cereal crops. The coefficient of cereal yield variation is fairly high, which reflects large differences in the yield level between several regions and between vegetative periods in Poland (Figure 5). The lowest yields are recorded in the central and eastern parts of Poland (regions Lod, Maz, Pod and Swi) and the highest in western and southern parts of the country (regions Dls, Opl, Sls, Wlp and Zpm). These differences can be explained partly by the combined effects of climatic conditions and the prevailing cereal species and partly by the different agro-technical measures i.e. fertilization, plant protection and others.

Table 8. Set-aside areas and yields of certain crops in regions of Poland (averages 1999-2001)

The yield of potatoes is hardly half that of sugar beet but the coefficient of yield variation of both crops, between the regions, is rather small. The reasons for similar, low variation coefficients are, however, quite different for the two crops. On most farms potatoes are grown on the poorest soils, and with a low level of production inputs. On the other hand, sugar beet, a highly profitable crop, is concentrated on the best soils and is cultivated properly and well fertilized.

Figure 5. Yields of cereals in Poland in 1999/2000 (t/ha)

Source: GUS, 1999-2001.

Rapeseed is still a low-yielding crop and the average yield for Poland approximately exceeds two tonnes of seeds. The most important factor determining the yield of rapeseed, at a regional level, seems to be the quality of the soil, which is rather disappointing in view of the high input of fertilizers and pesticides commonly applied on this crop.

The average yield of pulses, i.e. bean, peas and lupin, is very low and the cultivation of these crops is at the limit of profitability, which explains the continually decreasing share of pulses, in Poland.

In the group of fodder crops, the highest yielding crop is maize followed by fodder beet. However maize is grown on bigger farms only, equipped with the special machinery and sufficient power to deal with green matter conservation.