Changes in the structure of sowing area, yields and harvests of cereal crops in Poland in the years 1965–2015

Abstract

The objective of the study was to analyze the changes that took place on the Polish cereal market in the years 1965–2015 in the structure of sowing area, yields and harvests. The analysis included such cereals as wheat, rye, triticale, barley, oat, maize, buckwheat and millet, as well as cereal mixtures. Over the fifteen-year period under analysis fundamental changes were observed in the structure of the area of sowings, harvests, and yields of the cereals. The share of cereals with higher productivity (wheat, triticale, barley, maize) was gradually increasing and the area of rye and oat decreased. In the final 15 years the area of cultivation of cereals decreased, while the harvests and yields increased. The increase was especially notable in the share of cereals with a high production potential (wheat, barley, maize, triticale). In Poland, wheat is the cereal with the greatest importance for agriculture – in the analysed period it produced the highest harvests and yields as compared to other cereals. After 1990, the factor that contributed to the increase in the sowing area and harvests was the introduction of a new cereal species – triticale – in a wide agricultural practice. The variation in the harvests and yields was caused primarily by changes in sowings area, weather conditions, and mineral fertilization. The increase of the yields of cereals was caused by advances in biology (breeding of new cultivars), change in the configuration of cereals cultivation, and improved effectiveness of application of fertilizers and plant protection agents. The highest increasing trend was characteristic of the yields of wheat, and the strongest variation in the yields of cereals in Poland in the years 1965–2015 was characteristic of the yields of maize (30.3%).