EFFECTIVENESS OF ACTIONS LAUNCHED WITHIN THE 2004-2006 RURAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN IN THE OPINIONS OF FARMERS AND EXPERTS (REGIONAL ASPECT) (Ocena skutecznosci dzialan prowadzonych w...2004-2006 w opinii rolnikow i ekspertow (ujecie regionalne))

The aim of the article is to present the assessments of the purposefulness of actions launched within the Rural Development Plan for 2004–2006, formulated by is its direct beneficiaries - farmers, with due attention for regional differences, and to compare these assessments with opinions formulated by experts. The research material consisted of the results of surveys conducted with the help of questionnaires, which covered 746 farmers, and an opinion poll which covered 46 agricultural economics and agricultural policy experts representing Poland's leading research centres. The conducted analysis has shown that most farmers tend to assess highly actions designed to support incomes and improve the standard of living. Experts, on the other hand, tend to assess highly pro-development and pro-ecological actions. Essential differences have been discovered in the assessments of the Rural Development Plan's actions formulated by farmers living in different parts of Poland. Farmers assess particularly highly these actions which seem to be most closely related to the problems of agriculture's development in their own region.