The pluriactive development of agricultural holdings in Poland with regard to the living standards of their users

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.