This paper illustrates the regional diversity in terms of the agricultural income of economically weak farms in Poland (i.e. from 2 to 8 ESU). The results, expressed as average values for 2005-2009, indicate that farms are finding themselves in a very difficult situation. Furthermore, the assessment included farms that gained their income not only through agricultural activity, but also through doing non-agricultural work. The diversification of income sources created the opportunity to sustain less profitable agricultural production while providing a higher standard of living for farmers and their families. Such factors as the intensity of production, and the productiveness of current expenditures and fixed capital, as well as the financial position of the farms and the level of their debt, have been analysed. An important aim of the study was to identify the influence of the Common Agricultural Policy on the performance of farms.

This study shows the impact of cropping intensity on the economic results of plant production in Poland. The real amount of production outlays, which in value terms represents the level of direct costs, was adopted as the intensity measure. The economic results diversification scale is reflected by the level of gross margin and income from management activity, as well as by the production profitability index in the activity types analysed. When using low-intensity, as compared to high-intensity, cropping technologies, the economic results of the activities in question become more favourable. The profitability analysis of various production factors points to a prevalence of agricultural farms with low intensity levels of the activity conducted. Lower outlays of production means contributed to a more effective utilisation of both the natural soil fertility, and labour combined with fixed assets. A lower use of chemical crop-enhancing agents forces the farmer to employ more environmentally-friendly methods to keep production at a profitable level. The results show that the use of modern technological achievements may contribute to reducing the unfavourable impact of chemical agents on the natural environment, consistent with maintaining high economic efficiency of agricultural production.