DIAGNOSIS OF DEVELOPEMENT AND PERSPECTIVES ON SUPPORT OF PRODUCER GROUPS IN POLAND

The aim of the article was to assess the previous process of organisation of agricultural producers in producer groups in Poland, and to determine further directions of development of this kind of cooperation. The study discusses factors, indicated in the literature, which determine the development of producer groups, and analyses framework of the law and the policy of supporting producer groups in Poland. Current level of union of producers in agricultural producer groups and in fruit and vegetable producer groups is highly unsatisfactory. Despite the small number of producer groups - over 1500 companies, the number of united farmers is still (below 3%) a small percentage of producers, who benefit from the aid of agricultural policy. Moreover, functioning groups still have low productive capacity - their production is 6% of market’s total production. Funds provided for the companies by the rural development and common organising of fruit and vegetables markets programmes were crucial for the stimulation of the establishment of farmer unions. Currently planned solutions for years 2014-2020 should encourage establishing larger producer groups, as well as promote cooperation of already existing groups. The analysis was conducted with use of secondary data, which included unpublished data of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Agency of Restructurisation and Modenisation of Agriculture