IS SPECIALIZATION A WAY FOR SMALL FARMS IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES TO ADJUST?

The paper deals with specialization of small farms in the EU with particular respect to the EU-10 (Central and Eastern European) countries. It analyses the structure and growth of small farms in terms of types of specialization and their performance in production (Standard Output), labour (Agricultural Working Unit) and land use (Utilized Agricultural Area) between 2005 and 2013. The aim of the paper is to point out to what extent specialization can help small farms to survive. The paper underlines the main directions of specialization small farms have found to follow in different Central and Eastern European countries, thereby strengthening their chances of survival. It has been concluded that the growth and development of small, specialized farms has gone in different directions. Some types of small, specialized farms have achieved faster development and achieved better results in increasing efficiency than others. Analysis provides grounds to support the contention that small farms have found further specialization as path of development helping them to survive; but that the speed with which specialization has been achieved varies according to countries and according to farm types.