The international competitiveness of Polish agriculture

This article considers the international competitiveness of agricultural production in Poland. Competitiveness was measured in terms of domestic resource cost (DRC) ratios for three farm sizes and eight commodities. The results highlight that for the period 1996 to 1998 Polish crop production was more internationally competitive than livestock farming. The most internationally competitive crops of those analysed were rapeseed and potatoes. During the period, however, international competitiveness worsened as international commodity prices fell. There is an inverse relationship between DRCs and farm size. This is an important result as Polish production is relatively fragmented and the degree of structural change has been slow.