Blaas

FARM RESTRUCTURING AND LAND OWNERSHIP: THE SLOVAK EXPERIENCE: 

FARM RESTRUCTURING AND LAND OWNERSHIP: THE SLOVAK EXPERIENCE Gejza Blaas Research Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics Bratislava

Farm restructuring in Slovakia: 

Farm restructuring in Slovakia Past decade‘s changes in the farm structure Legal base of transformation Land sources of individual farming Scope and scale of emerging individual farms

Farm restructuring in SlovakiaMore information about individual farms:: 

Farm restructuring in Slovakia More information about individual farms: Income and its sources Output use: Market versus subsistance Social background Social map Conclusion

Legal types of farms by number of entities and average size (hectares) in 2000: 

Legal types of farms by number of entities and average size (hectares) in 2000 State farm 1 924 Co-op 738 1579 Partnership 3 225 LLC 559 989 PLC 85 1962 Family farms 20355 10,6 (216 000 ha) - over 100 ha 465 255 (120 000 ha) Household farms 295342 0,21 ( 62 000 ha) Source: Report on State of Agriculture 2001, MoA Bratislava

Legal base of transformation: 

Legal base of transformation Restoration of landed property rights: Act No. 114/1990 - priority land use right of collective farms abolished, Act No. 330/1991 settlement of land claims, land consolidation) Restitution: Act No. 403/1990, Act No. 87/1991, Act No. 229/1992, Act No 282/1993 (churches)

Legal base of transformation: 

Legal base of transformation Privatisation: Act No. 92/1991 Transformation of co-operatives: Act No. 41/1992 Privatisation: Act No. 92/1991

Land tenure of individual farms has originated from:: 

Land tenure of individual farms has originated from: Land already owned and held Restitution claims Withdrawal claims Lease from the Land Fund, a corporate farm ( secondary lease) and or from private landlord

Restitution of landed property as to 31. 12. 2000: 

Restitution of landed property as to 31. 12. 2000 Physical persons: 121 000 hectares farmland, 72 553 hectares of forests Landed property associations: 76 000 farmland, 30 000 hectares of forests Churches: 39 000 hectares farmland (as to end of 1999)

Settlement of land claimsaccording to Act 330/1991: 

Settlement of land claims according to Act 330/1991 Farmland alloted to claimants with title: 256 000 hectares, of those 39 000 hectares within physical boundaries responding to title 217 000 hectares substitute plots

Sources of land and their utilisation in individual farming: 

Sources of land and their utilisation in individual farming Sources (hectares UAA): Land with households in 1989: 93 000 Withdrawn from collective farms: 256 000 Subtotal: 349 000 Restitutions: 121 000 Involved in individual farming: Family farms 217 000 Households 62 000 Total: 279 000 Land statistics says, that physical persons operate 147 000 hectares (holdings over 0,5 hectares)

Partial conclusion on scope and scale: 

Partial conclusion on scope and scale Informal (non registered) land use may be high We know much about large farms We know only a little on small and subsistance farms Balance of total UAA acreage* (000 ha) in 1999 Family farms 307 055 Households 161 253 Individual f. 468 308 Corporate f. 1938160 SR total 2406468 * Informal estimate by by technical staff of SO

Land lease: 

Land lease Family farms leased 63 per cent of operated land in 1994 (Census data) Family farms leased 92 per cent of operated land in 2000 (FADN Data 96 per cent of total farm land is leased (2001 Census)

Legacy of the past: Fragmented land ownership: 

Legacy of the past: Fragmented land ownership

Output use: Market versus self-consumption : 

Output use: Market versus self-consumption

Market orientation: 

Market orientation Crop production mainly market oriented Livestock production mainly for self-consumtion (with exemption of mutton, lamb and beef)

Who they are? Where they came from?: 

Who they are? Where they came from?

Who they are? Where they came from?: 

Who they are? Where they came from?

Who they are? Where they came from?: 

Who they are? Where they came from?

Social map: 

Social map

Social map: 

Social map Farming as additional activity to a principal job is most likely to be pursued by white collar individuals (heads of households) Farming as a principal activity is most likely to be pursued by persons with lower education and by retired persons.

Conclusion: 

Conclusion Individual farming has not become the dominant pattern of farming during the transformation process in Slovak agriculture. It represents this days a stabilised segment of agricultural sector and seems to be viable in economic terms today and sustain so also in the future.