Farmers' community in Lithuania: development and problems

Straipsnyje analizuojami Lietuvos ūkininkijos kaip savito ir reikšmingo valstietijos raidos tarpsnio samprata, būdingi bruožai, raida ir svarbos šalies ekonomikai kitimas. Ūkininkija aiškinama kaip visuomenės sluoksnis, kurį vienijo darbo ir gyvenimo būdas, tradicijos, dvasinės ir materialinės vertybės. Tai buvo socialinė ir ekonominė jėga, turėjusi didelę reikšmę nepriklausomos Lietuvos kūrimui ir gyvenimui. Apibūdinami pagrindiniai ūkininkijos raidos etapai. Pirmasis - ūkininkija iki 1940 m., valstybės gyvenime užėmusi dvarininkijos vietą. Parodomos valstybės pastangos stiprinti ūkininkija, pravedant žemės reformą, remiant žemės ūkio techninę pažangą. Antrasis etapas - 1940-1990 m. Tai ūkininkijos žlugdymo ir keitimo nauja darbo jėga laikotarpis, įvertinamos šio laikotarpio pasekmės. Dabartinis etapas - ūkininkijos atsikūrimas ne šeimos ūkio, bet į kapitalą orientuoto verslinio žemės ūkio linkme. Nagrinėjamos pastangos siekiam stiprinti šių ūkių rentabilumą ir konkurencingumą rengimosi Europos Sąjungos narystei laikotarpiu.The economic history of the formation and development of farmers community is the history of important stratum of society which plays an important role in the life of Lithuania. The farmers community has brought up the first cultural workers, scientists, art workers, state and religious men. Though Lithuania had favourable geographical situation, the large centres of towns were well reached, up to First World War the farming was extensive. At that time Lithuanian farming was a standard family farming based on private property and family work. The members of the family were trained at the so-called "home school". After World War 1 the characteristic features of Lithuanian farmer community were the following: selling as many products as possible through cutting down family needs for food, to provide family with clothing and foot-wear of own production; weak local market because % of self-dependent population, providing personal needs in agricultural products, were engaged in agriculture; in spike of not high productivity of agriculture the exported agricultural products making up to about 80 per cent of total Lithuanian export value. During that period the Lithuanian fanners became economically stronger, agricultural production increased, a system of individual farms developed. It was possible to compare the Lithuanian and Western Europe farmers in respects of production progress, increase of living standard, compliance with state interests. A forced tum of Lithuanian villages into "social development" interrupted its natural development process. It was the period of implementation of different agricultural management systems. The state established large and very large-scale enterprises - collective and state farms. They were based on stale-owned and co-operative land and other property ownership as well as on collective work. The hired managers, specialists and agricultural capital ownership replaced farmers. This farming system manifested its poor efficiency, incapability to compete with the previous system. After the restoration oflndcpendence Lithuania began to form a new stratum of farmers-businessmen. For this purpose joined efforts of the state and of the persons involved in this form of farming, are necessary. This may help to restore more rapidly the industrial capacities of agriculture, to provide the domestic market with own agricultural products, and to increase export. In order to strengthen farmers community the state agrarian policy, especially farmers settlement support policy, have to be orientated to train young perspective farmers having good knowledge of both technologies and marketing problems, understanding the necessity to produce products of great demand and that the products arc produced not for the state but for consumers, i.e. thinking not only of the low costs but also of the low selling prices. Farmers must be ready to work under conditions, which may be wider than the Lithuanian market. In this article the author analyses stages of farmers community development - formation, growing and downfall of farming - from economist's standpoint. Such analysis is necessary to forecast the development of new type of peasants - farmer-businessman. Such analysis is also interesting in international respect because other countries, that have became free of "a social development way", raise the same problem of the economic development of the peasants community