This paper considers whether the dual production structure now in place in central and eastern European countries (CEECs) is ecient and stable in the medium term. The large, recently emerged corporate and co-operative farm structures may not be stable because of con¯icts inherent in co-operative production under current ownership structures. Such units use high levels of capital and purchased inputs, and relative price changes for production factors may threaten their survival without subsidies. The few large individual private operators that have emerged may soon face restructuring problems, as they have been relying on cheap capital at prices that do not re¯ect current replacement costs. New, younger, relatively small-scale farmers appear to have major and as yet unexploited production potential. Although representing only a small share of the many family farms, they are nevertheless numerous enough to create a viable`middle class' of commercially oriented, private farmers. Although this group currently faces severe technological and ®nancial constraints, the emergence of medium-sized, individually owned and operated farm units is the most viable option for the future in CEECs.

The recent implementation of the CAP Single Area Payments in the EU New Member States raises the question of whether a quick capitalisation of these payments is expected. Capitalisation of public support to agriculture into land prices indicates that the benefits are partly transferred toward landowners rather than toward producers. This distributional aspect is of particular importance in countries where a large proportion of land is farmed by producers who do not own this land. This study investigates the influence of several types of support on Czech agricultural land prices from private transactions between 1995–2001. The past period direct payments have been capitalised at the strongest rate, despite their low level and imperfections on the land market, suggesting that such support is most easily transferred to land values. A continuing capitalisation might threaten the farming activity, as farms are almost only tenanted. And because most of the landowners live in towns, there is a risk of an extreme leakage of support not only outside the farming sector, but also outside the rural sector.

Abstract:The article presents the evaluation of multifunctionality of czech agriculture and its individual farm categories in the period of [2003][2004][2005]. it compares the situation before and after the EU accession. The assessment is based on the set of indicators for the three elementary axes of multifunctionality: economic efficiency, relations to environment and relations to rural development. Applying the presented method of multi-criterion evaluation and during the period of 2003-2005 on average, the highest level of multifunctionality is found in the category of farms of physical persons with 101-300 ha (score 174) and the lowest level in the category of collective farms -cooperatives and joint stock companies (score about 115). however, compared with the pre-accession period, the collective farms show the highest growth of the score (by 17%) after the EU accession.

Th e EU Common Agricultural Policy enables to provide coupled payments for cattle breeding. Th e article compares the profi tability in dairy cows and suckler cows breeding under the Czech agricultural policy and market conditions. It is approved that particularly very large farms with an extensive suckler cows breeding on permanent grassland are oversupported and realize rents. Based on the analytical results, suggestions to distribute the supports more eff ectively and fairly, particularly those under the Council Regulation (EC) No. 73/2009, Article 68, are presented.

This study examines the impact of financial institutions, especially rural banks on rural farmers. It analyses the role rural banks play in agricultural development and food security of the Birim South District in the Eastern Region of Ghana.The aim of the research was to (1) evaluate the rationale of the introduction of rural banks in Ghana and their impact on the rural folks (especially farmers) (2) establish a link between rural banking and food security (3) understand constraints farmers face in their dealings with the bank. And to analyze the various ways the rural bank impact on the lives of the farmers.Questionnaires and interviews were used to elicit responses from 220 clients (mostly farmers) of the South Birim Rural Bank Ltd.The paper demonstrates that the rural bank has a positive impact on the people in terms of giving them something to fall on when times are hard translating into poverty alleviation and food security as well as financial advisory services.