EFFICIENCY AND INNOVATION VERSUS COMPETITIVENESS OF POLISH AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS (Efektywnosc i innowacyjnosc a konkurencyjnosc polskich gospodarstw rolnych)

In Poland there are 243,000 agricultural holdings (app. 10% of their total number) capable of competing with their counterparts in other EU countries. However, they must take into account the worsening economic conditions and the necessity to restructure production, which requires, above all, the allocation of their own financial resources. The paper indicates the possibilities for and the scope of income growth achievable owing to an improvement in the efficiency of agricultural production and efforts to introduce production means serving as carriers of several types of innovations. It is highly probable that the holdings of the economic size of at least 16 ESU have greater possibilities in these two areas.