Ten countries, including Slovakia, will join EU in 2004. Implementation of CAP is an integral part of the EU accession. Adoption of CAP will have a significant impact on the Slovak agriculture and economy. Support of farmers in Slovakia will increase after accession. Also policy instruments used to support agriculture will change. Major part of support will be provided by payments per hectare of agricultural land (SAPS). There will be also increase of prices, of most agricultural products because intervention prices at which EU purchases surplus production, are generally higher in the EU than in Slovakia. EU accession and adoption of CAP will complete a decade of agricultural reforms in Slovakia. These reforms changed the structure of agricultural sector as it had to adjust to market conditions and reduced role of the state regulation.
Today no country in the world can hope for achieving a sustainable competitiveness of the national economic complex and, consequently, for its bright future, without its successful adaptation to the market management conditions. The article deals with the problems of a respective agrarian sector adaptation.
The paper describes basic determinants of the medical plant cultivation in Polish agriculture. The author discussed economic background of the introduction of these plants indicating the role of pharmaceutical industry in herb usage. Then, there is a presentation of results of the survey study carried out among farmers from the Wielkopolska region. Approximately 10% of the farms cultivate medicinal plants but more than 50% declare some interest in this kind of production, what indicates a big potential. Farmers think that herbs are economically attractive crops if the sale is guaranteed and the price is satisfactory. The demand for medicinal plants is developing and expanding for e.g. dietary supplements and other health-promoting products. Therefore, it can be concluded that cultivation of medicinal plants is the prospective direction of agricultural production and an important element of additional income of Polish farmers.
Research results pointat higher economic prosperity from bioproduction of fruits with 5.33 times in comparison with average level of bioproduction from branches of field crop production in a set of researching agribusiness entities. Better economic results are reached also because of processing of bioproducts and production of musts, juices or distillates that are sold both on domestic and foreign market. We consider this example as an useful one for those agribusiness entities that devote attention to increase the economic and commercial successfulness of their products in market conditions of the Slovak Republic.