__NOTOC__ A State Agricultural Farm ( ;, PGR) was a form of

collective farming Collective farming and communal farming are various types of "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member-o ...

in the

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

, similar to

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

sovkhoz A sovkhoz ( rus, совхо́з, p=sɐfˈxos, a=ru-sovkhoz.ogg, syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated from , ''sovetskoye khozyaystvo''; ) was a form of state-owned farm or agricultural enterprise in the Soviet Union. It is usually contrasted w ...

and to the

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

Volkseigenes Gut 200px, Entrance to VEG Vorder Bollhagen The or 'Publicly Owned Estate'; abbreviated VEG) was a state-owned farm in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), corresponding to the Soviet ''Sovkhoz'' and the '' Państwowe Gospodarstwo Rolne'' in the ...

. They were created in 1949 as a form of

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

ownership of agricultural land by the government. They were primarily formed on the ''

Regained Territories The Recovered Territories or Regained Lands () are the lands east of the Oder-Neisse line that over the centuries were gradually lost by Poland and colonized by the Germans, and that returned to Poland after World War II. This term includes W ...

'' - lands that Poland acquired from Germany after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

- but existed throughout Poland. Some farms took over farms of monasteries, e.g. in Szczyrzyc, see the picture. Relatively inefficient and subsidized by the government, most PGRs went

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the de ...

quickly after the

fall of communism The revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, were a revolutionary wave of liberal democracy movements that resulted in the collapse of most Marxist–Leninist governments in the Eastern Bloc and other parts of the world. Th ...

and adoption of a

market economy A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production, and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand. The major characteristic of a mark ...

by Poland. The state ran many specialised farms, which bred and trained horses (especially Arabians, e.g.

Bask Bask may refer to: * to bask, or to sunbathe * Bask, Gilan, Iran; a village * Kalle Bask, a Finnish sailor * Bask (horse) (1956–1979), an Arabian stallion * Bask Om, a fictional character from Zeta Gundam * A fictional king (and the area he ...

), bred cows, fish, produced certified seed and potatoes. Some of the farms were state ones before the World War II. Many of the specialised farms still exist, controlled by the Agricultural Property Agency.

Farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

s were created primarily on the basis of the earlier estates. Many of these households were founded on the ''

''. After moving to the

under the Act of October 19, 1991 on agricultural property of the Treasury collective farms were liquidated and their assets were taken over by the Agricultural Property Agency of the Treasury (now

Agricultural Property Agency Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domestication, domestic ...

), and their workers - 300 to 450 thousand people - joined the ranks of the

unemployed Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (hu ...

. Households that have not been sold or leased were administered by the Agency of the State Treasury and managed by administrators appointed by the Agency. Then sought to sell or lease property holdings and the accompanying holdings, such as apartments, holiday resorts, etc. The social base has also been a sale of land to individual

farmers A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mi ...

. The weakest part of the land remained undeveloped for several years. The process of selling and leasing land societies and social services continues. Liquidation of state-owned farms has often been restricted, or permanent abandonment of animal husbandry, crop production limitation, changes in farming methods. This led to a drastic reduction of jobs and the resulting wide range of local problems; in many regions, PGR were the only employer, the new owners after restructuring usually significantly reduced the employment. State-owned farms were very often the organizers of social life, and theoretically adequately met all the needs of workers. Their downfall has often caused damage to the structure of the local communities, which were not adapted to the new situation of economic activity. It has also devastated the property - partly as a result of theft, partly because of the lack of elementary security. On 22 July 2008 in Bolegorzyn, near

Złocieniec Złocieniec (; ) is a town in northwestern Poland. Located in West Pomeranian Voivodeship's Drawsko County since 1999, it was previously a part of Koszalin Voivodeship (disambiguation), Koszalin Voivodeship (1950–1998). The population of Złoci ...

a museum of the State Farms was opened.Abstract release to open the museum in Bolegorzynie
(July 2008)

Gallery

File: Wieżanka PGR.jpg , PGR Wieżanka File: Żelechów-PGR.jpg , PGR

Żelechów Żelechów (Yiddish language, Yiddish זשעלעכאָוו) is a town in eastern Poland in Masovian Voivodeship in Garwolin County. It is the seat of Gmina Żelechów. Żelechów is from Warsaw and far from Lublin. More than 4000 people live in ...

File: Kroscienko PGR 1.jpg, PGR Krościenko File: Budynek PGR w Gwoździanach.jpg, PGR Gwoździany File: Rybotycze PGR.jpg , PGR Rybotycze File: Graziowa PGR.jpg , PGR Grąziowa File: Pieszcz, dawny PGR.jpg , PGR Pieszcz File: Wielopole PGR.jpg , PGR Wielopole File: Pozostałości po PGR Grabowo.jpg, PGR Grabowo

Notes

{{reflist

External links

Museum of PGR Bolegorzynie

Agricultural Property Agency

* Irena Topińska
Poland: Human Development Progress Towards the MDGs at the Sub-National Level

Gallery

See also

Notes

External links

Further reading