Supporting the Development of Multifunctional Agriculture in the Area of the Sudeten and the Polish Carpathians

The article concerns the effects of supporting the development of multifunctional agriculture in the mountain areas of the Sudeten and the Polish Carpathians under the Rural Development Plan for 2004-2006 and the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013. The instruments employed to implement the goals of multifunctional agriculture include the following three measures: the support for agricultural activity in less-favoured areas (LFA), the agri-environmental programme and the afforestation of agricultural land. The spatial analysis was based on the share of the granted support in the total number of farms and on the total amounts granted in PLN per 1 ha of agricultural land, which enabled the synthetic absorption ratio to be constructed and the types differing in terms of the financial funds obtained to be distinguished among the counties. The use of the EU funds related to the productive and natural (green) functions, i.e. the implementation of multifunctionality in farms, is spatially differentiated in the areas of the Sudeten and the Polish Carpathians. In those areas the further development of multifunctional agriculture requires the area structure to be improved and the ownership system of farms to be stabilised.