A regional analysis of agricultural potential and farmers’ interest in the CAP’s rural development program in Poland

The main aim of the article was to establish and present the relationship between the production potential of agriculture in Poland’s voivodships and the utilization of funds from selected Rural Development Programs (RDP) 2014-2020.  The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union has Rural Development as the “second pillar” with the objectives of enhancing the competitiveness of agriculture and forestry; ensuring the sustainable management of natural resources and climate action; and overall development of rural economies. The materials for the paper are based on data connected with the resources of production factors in Polish agriculture as well as data on EU agricultural funds in Poland under RDP 2014-2020 made available by the Polish Central Statistical Office (GUS) and the Agency for Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture (ARMA). The analysis showed that the diversification of the agricultural production potential of the different regions in Poland had an influence on the activity of farmers in applying for RDP measures. Based on the regional absorption of funds, there should be a wider range of conditions required to access selected EU programs in order to strengthen farms in areas with lower production potential.