The birth, power and decline of Polish agricultural aviation

The first practical use of aircraft for plant protection took place in the United States in 1916. In the 1920s, agricultural aviation work was already being carried out in many countries. The first experiments were also carried out in Poland. As early as 1925 and 1927, military aircraft equipped with dusting devices circled over Polish forests and sugar beet crops. Polish agricultural aviation developed after the end of World War II. In the second half of the 1940s and the 1950s, LOT Polish Airlines organized field and forest dusting operations. For this work, Li-2 passenger aircraft were used, as well as Piper Cub and CSS-13 liaison aircraft. Since the second half of the 1960s, the Polish People's Republic has become a world leader in the field of agricultural aviation. Polish agricultural pilots worked not only in over 250 Polish State Agricultural Farms, but also in over 20 other countries. The peak of Polish agro-aviation's importance in the world occurred in the 1970s and early 1980s. Starting in the 1980s, the importance of Polish agro-aviation gradually began to decline. Airplanes and helicopters marked with the letters "SP" disappeared from the skies of successive countries, as well as from the domestic market. In the 1990s, due to the liquidation of State Agricultural Farms, aircraft were withdrawn from agricultural work. Polish agro-aviation companies also withdrew from international markets one after another.