ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the agricultural sector in Poland in 1970-82, focusing analysis on the role of Gierek’s agricultural policies in the generation of the economic crisis of 1979-82. It will describe and analyse the variation in Gierek’s agricultural policies, the large and growing hard currency deficits in agriculture-related foreign trade, food consumption, discrimination against private agriculture and efficiency comparisons between socialized and private farming. In addition, this chapter will discuss certain structural features of Polish agriculture and related problems.
