The Effectiveness of Using Subsidies for Certified Seed Material Used for Sowing or Planting

The work aims to assess the effectiveness of the subsidy system for purchasing certified seed material. The assessment was made based on data from the Statistics Poland on the sown area, data from the State Plant Protection Inspectorate on seed trade, and data from the Agency for Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture on the amount of support provided to farmers, the analyzed changes in the amount of subsidies and the supply of certified seeds. Analyzing the motivation of farmers buying seeds was based on surveys conducted on farms in 2023 – the research concerned species covered by the subsidy system for cereals, potatoes, and large-seeded legumes. In total, the results were collected from 1,008 farms. A stimulating effect of subsidies in the initial period of their application and an improvement in the supply of certified seed material to farms was demonstrated. Maintaining the subsidies unchanged, and later, even at a nominally lower level, resulted in the disappearance of their stimulating effect. The main factors limiting farmers’ motivation to purchase certified seed material were indicated: the high prices of seed material, a lack of knowledge about the benefits of using certified seed material, low subsidy amounts, the exhaustion of the de minimis limit, and thus the possibility of using subsidies as well as an overly complicated subsidy system.