INFLUENCE OF OPTIONAL DIRECT PAYMENTS ON THE AVERAGE LEVEL OF SUPPORT FOR AN AGRICULTURAL HOLDING IN POLAND FROM A REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE

The article presented results from the simulative studies, on the basis of which the impact of optional direct payments on the average amount of premiums per agricultural holding in an individual Polish voivodeships can be measured. It was established, for example, that in 2017, as a result of the application of voluntary instruments, the change in the average level of financial support for agricultural holdings in those voivodeships in which these instruments had the strongest influence on the variable under investigation was around +/-12 % (compared with the situation where the optional payments were not introduced and the funds earmarked for their financing was distributed within the framework of the single area payment scheme). It was also noted that the optional instruments applied in Poland have contributed to the increase in the average level of support for agricultural holdings in central and central-east Poland, in particular in the Podlaskie voivodeship. In the western, northern and southern Polish voivodeships, the average amount of support per agricultural holding would be higher if no optional instruments were implemented; the level of funding for the single area payment scheme would thus be greater.