Regional differentiation of direct support for farmers in Poland as exemplified by selected regions

The objective of this study was to measure the dispersion of the unit level of support, paid under the direct payment scheme, among voivodeships with a similar average agricultural holding size, and to identify the reasons for this dispersion. It begins with a description of the shape of the direct payments scheme in Poland. The paper further presents and analyses the results of the measurement of dispersion of support as part of the direct payment scheme between voivodeships with no significant differences in the sizes of agricultural holdings. It has been shown that this dispersion is a result of the differences in the structure of support absorbed by farmers in individual regions. The measurement of the support level is the average aid amount per unit of agricultural area and the average aid amount per one beneficiary. The source material used in this paper was the data from the Polish paying agency responsible for direct payments made to farmers, i.e. the Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture. The reference period of the study is 2018. As three voivodeships with the most similar average farm size were selected, the study covered Łódzkie, Śląskie and Lubelskie Voivodeships. The analysis was performed with the use of descriptive statistics methods. The data was visualised with the use of pie and bar charts, and a choropleth map. It was found that the instrument with a particularly strong potential for the impact on support level in absolute terms (per one holding) and relative terms (per 1 hectare of agricultural land in a holding) is the so called voluntary coupled support. With this instrument, European Union Member States can adjust the distribution of funds between individual regions, reducing the strength of a relationship between the volume of support absorbed by individual regions and their abundance in agricultural land. The intention of such actions may be to compensate for social inequalities or to stimulate growth in peripheral areas.