The basic purpose of the study refers to the structural and system analyses of the farming counseling in the context that appeared as a consequence of our membership in the European Union. The farming counseling is currently undergoing a serous institutional and organizational restructuring. The counseling activity develops under the statutory basis adopted by Seym in 2004. The counseling has certain experience in using subsidies from European funds offered under Sector Operation Program 2004-2006. Within the range of the Sector Operation Program FAPA appeared as the implementing institution and it was responsible for the execution of two activities: “The support for the farming counseling” and “The training”. The essential contribution to problem research of the farming counseling system in Poland have brought Kania J., Pabich A and others scientists.

Research methods

As research methods were used general logical knowledge methods (the analysis and synthesis), the abstract-logic method, the comparison method, the monographic method.

The main part

The characteristics of the farming counseling system in Poland

Joining the European Union in 2004 was related to the necessity of the reconstructing of the farming counseling in order to offer farmers the assistance and facilitation of managing in the conditions of the Common Farm Policy. The necessity of creating a counseling system stemmed additionally form the Regulation of the Council (EC) nr 1782 of 2003, which regulated that each member country had the obligation to establish the system of counseling for farmers and forest owners as of 1^st January 2007. According to the Regulation, the system of the farming counseling should contribute to the development of farmers' awareness of material flows and processes taking place in arable farms and related to the environmental protection, food articles safety, health and wellness of animals. Farmers shall join the system on voluntary basis, whereas the primacy shall be given to farmers who obtain the amount of direct payments exceeding the defined ceiling in a given year. Due to the character of the provided services information obtained in the course of the conducted counseling activity shall be considered as confidential [the Regulation of the Council (EC) 2003].

The European Union has not specified a uniform model of the farming counseling leaving that competence for member countries. Systems functioning in EU have in most cases a mixed character, that is, public and private character, admitting commercial entities to provide counseling services. On the other hand, the significant level of the support of the European Union for agriculture effects the authorities' intention to exert an efficient influence on decisions of land owners and users with regard to the land utilization. A new phenomenon in Poland in the system of the farming counseling refers to the fact that since 2008, under the Regulation of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, conditions have appeared for the accreditation of private (commercial) entities providing financial counseling services from PDRA. Within the scope of EU it has been established that the priory to use FAS services (Farm Advisory System) shall be ensured to farmers who in the form of direct payments obtain more than EUR 15 000 annually (over PLN 60 000). Individual countries may however according to their own possibilities and needs define groups of farmers shall use farming counseling first. In Poland no limitations have been introduced with regard to the use of the counseling services, assuming that farmers who obtain more considerable subsidies will make use of that assistance.

In Poland until 2005 legal regulations concerning farming counseling were based on regulations of the lower level (regulations). Since 1^st January 2005 the units of the farming counseling have been acting under the provisions of the act of 22^nd October 2004 on units of the farming counseling. The reorganization of those units referred in particular to the fulfilling of the statutory obligation of the organizing of 16 provincial establishments of the farming counseling as well as the establishment of the Establishment of the Farming Counseling. Establishments of the Farming Counseling stopped to operate as budgetary units and they became state organizational units with legal personality. Under the Act the Establishments of the Farming Counseling were subject to the office of the Voivode who supervised legal and organizational rules of the operation of units of the farming counseling. Since 1^st August 2009, under the Act of 23^rd January 2009 on the change of certain acts in relation to the changes in the organization and the division of administrative tasks in the province (so called "competence act"), while tasks so far implemented under the supervision of the Voivode, have been transferred to the Marshal's Office.

The act on units of the farming counseling does not specify the organizational structure of establishments of the farming counseling in a detailed manner. It specifies only that the locally competent Voivode (currently the Marshal) grants, in the form of the regulation, a charter to the counseling establishment. Then, the minister competent for the rural development defines the frame statute as well as homogenous organization and the manner of the operation of units. The frame statute mentions 14 organizational units (7 out of which are content-related departments), including teams of advisors, not prйcising their field localization. According to the study of A. Pabich the organizational structure of establishment of the farming counseling is created by both the divisions as well as field counseling teams. A three-level organizational structure has been maintained in the majority of provinces: the headquarters - divisions - counseling teams, which division stems from the previous administrative division of the country with 49 provinces. Out of 16 establishments of the farming counseling 11 establishments (68.7%) had 27 divisions (on average 2.4 of the division), whereas divisions were liquidated in five provinces, namely the Maіopolskie, Opolskie, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie and Wielkopolskie provinces. The biggest number of divisions existed in the Mazowieckie (7) and Dolnoњl№skie (4) provinces. Whereas the total number of the field counseling teams amounted to 312, which with the existence of 314 poviats means a full coverage of the country with the counseling network (Pabich, 2007).

In 2007 the employment in establishments of the farming counseling amounted to 5354 persons, 4410 persons of whom (82.4%) referred to the managerial and counseling cadre. There is a considerable diversification between the employment of specialists and advisors localized in the headquarters of the establishments of the farming counseling and divisions, in contrast to advisors employed directly in the local or field teams of advisors which operate in poviats. Out of 3890 specialists and advisors, only 1586 persons (40.8%) advised directly farmers, which accounted for 5 advisors per 1 team and which was unfavorable for the process of counseling during the forming of rural areas (Pabich, 2007). The number of the employed advisors in the country was territorially diversified in relation to the number of agricultural holdings making use of direct subsidies which is presented in the table below. (tab.1).

Table 1. The characteristics of the farming counseling in Poland

The source: own calculations

Analyzing the table above one shall pay the attention to considerable differences between provinces with regard to the number of advisors falling for one agricultural holding utilizing the direct subsidies. Specialists from Јуdzkie, Lubelskie and Њwiкtokrzyskie were most burdened with services; respectively (455, 438, 406 holdings per 1 advisor). The above mentioned are also provinces characterized by scattered agrarian structure. The provinces with the best ratio characterizing the number of agricultural holdings falling per 1 advisers, include Zachodniopomorskie (153), Lubuskie (161) and Dolnoњl№skie (191) provinces. In case of those provinces, on the other hand there is a considerable number of big holdings and a relatively good agrarian structure. The level of the employment of the counseling cadre was in general shaped by directors of establishments of farming counseling together with voivodes (marshals), whereas that cadre is at the same time a result of historical events of the last 20 years.

The number of licensed advisors may considered as sufficient in relation to the number of signed contracts for activity under the Program for the Development of Rural Areas entitled "The use of advisory services by farmers and forest owners", whereas the process of obtaining further licenses is of an increasing character. Moreover the Center of Agricultural Consultancy in Brwinуw had 1405 agricultural and environmental advisors registered with qualifications for consultancy under the Program for the Development of the Rural Areas [PDRA] for years 2004-2006 and PDRA 2007-2013.

Agricultural Consultancy in the light of the number of farmers making use of the consultancy services

The research of the agricultural consultancy lived to see a wider perspective of making use of consultancy services provided by the Main Statistical Office in 2005. This is in principle the first such a general research of the issues conducted on the scale of the whole country, which allows to get acquainted with the scope of the use of services provided by entities dealing with agricultural consultancy, including the establishments for agricultural consultancy. The studies referred to this issue in two systems, namely regarding to groups of big agricultural holdings as well as in the system of individual provinces. Under the scientific assumption the interest in agricultural consultancy was increasing along with the increase of the sizes of the agricultural holdings, from 19.3% in case of smaller holdings, to 80.5% in case of holdings covering from 50 to 100 ha. A similar tendency appears when considering the number of farmers making use of services of establishments for agricultural consultancy. In general, we may say that 545.1 thousand farmers (31.9%) have made use of the consultancy services and they constitute the source of the potential cooperation within the scope of PDRA (tab.2).

Table 2. Agricultural holdings making use of the services of entities dealing with agricultural consultancy

The source: the characteristics of agricultural holdings in Poland in 2005, the Main Statistical Office Warsaw

The characteristics of agricultural holdings covered by direct subsidies and making use of consultancy services in the system of provinces indicates that the biggest number of farmers applying for those forms of consultancy assistance come from Kujawsko-Pomorskie (60.6%), Zachodniopomorskie (59.2%), Pomorskie (55.5%), Maіopolskie (54.4%), Wielkopolskie (53.5%) and Warmiсsko-Mazurskie (52.5%) provinces. In case of all provinces the biggest consultancy potential is presented by establishments for agricultural consultancy having at their disposal a defined base and consultancy cadre who systematically increase their professional qualifications, especially in the Center for Agricultural Consultancy in Brwinуw. The results of the research indicate the existence of dependency between the economic potential of agricultural holdings and their agrarian structure referring to the fact that developing holdings are eager to make use of the assistance especially of Agricultural Constancy Establishments. The other regularity appearing in the studies indicates that in case of all provinces the difference between the total number of the holdings making use of consultancy services to those making use of consultancy offered by ACE is almost identical and it ranges from 1.7 to 2.8%. The above mentioned confirms the dominating position of agricultural constancy establishments, which at this stage of the study had no competition in the form of private commercial companies (tab.3).

Table 3. The number of agricultural holdings using the agricultural consultancy by provinces (2005)

The Source: The characteristics of agricultural holdings in Poland in 2005, the Main Statistical Office, Warsaw 2006

It shall be noticed that both presented tables differ slightly from each other. The difference stems from the fact that the first table refers to farmers with agricultural holdings above 1 ha, whereas the second table refers to agricultural holdings using the direct subsidies.

consultancy service farmer agricultural

Final remarks