REGIONAL DIFFERENTIATION OF SHEEP PRODUCTION IN POLAND

Subject and purpose of work: The objective of the thesis was to present the differentiation of sheep production represented in the sheep population in Poland and to determine directions of changes in the sheep population in Poland. Disparities in the regional differentiation of sheep production and their causes were also shown. Materials and methods: The spatial range of research covered 16 provinces, while the time range covered the year 2015. Sources of the materials were: domestic and foreign literature as well as data from the Central Statistical Office (GUS in Polish). Data analysis and presentations were based on descriptive, tabular, graphical and indicatory methods, as well as the Pearson linear correlation coefficient. Results: The conducted research shows the presence of disparities between provinces, because there are provinces with large populations and stocking density of these animals but there also exist territorial units with a very small number of sheep. There was also a large decrease in the number of sheep found in most provinces. Conclusions: The existence of a significant link between the share of pastures in AL (agricultural land) and the sheep population in provinces was confirmed. Correlation occurred only in the case of this parameter. The conducted research should be treated as a pilot study