Poland: Agriculture in Poland

A file containing documents relating to Polish agriculture. Documents in the file include a paper written by the Dutch agricultural attaché in Warsaw entitled "The development of the structure of Polish agriculture"; and a report by the British ambassador in Warsaw, Norman Reddaway, entitled "Polish agriculture: a thorn in communist flesh", which concludes that "agriculture and its problems will remain central to the problem of governing Poland". Subjects covered in the file include the high proportion of Polish farmland in private ownership; the slow pace of change; the importance of food exports; a succession of poor harvests in Poland; the reluctance of the Polish government to risk popular outrage by taking radical action; and the importance of the Catholic Church in supporting the rural population and opposing the nationalisation of farms.