Parcelling activity of the National Bank for Agriculture in interwar Poland in the years 1924-1929

• Main Author: Mirosław Kłusek
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Life Sciences in Poznań 2009-01-01
• Series: Journal of Agribusiness and Rural Development
• Subjects: National Bank for Agriculture; agriculture reform; governmental parcellation; bank parcellation; land circle; long-term credit
• Online Access: http://www.jard.edu.pl/tom14/zeszyt4/art_8_pl.pdf

Scientific literature related to the problem in focus is exceptionally poor. The only book publication concerns the National Bank for Agriculture in the twenty-year interwar period is book position of Marek Nowak’s authorship [Nowak 1988]. But, on account of its modest range, bank agrarian activity has been treated too generally. In this publication author’s opinion is that this activity needs deeper analysis. Parcelling is an economic process which took part in Poland and lasted from the moment of grant freehold. It ran with special intensification towards the end of XIX century and at the beginning of XX century. In inter-war period, on account of source of parcelled soil, parcellation was divided into private and governmental. Governmental parcellation, which related to public property, included lands by Regional District Councils and territories included by military settlement. However, lands allocated by the National Bank for Agriculture and by individual people made private parcellation. The beginning of the National Bank for Agriculture’s agrarian activity’ was enabled by Poland President’s directive from 1924. One of the main tasks put against NBA was support: parcellation and settlement, agricul-tural regulations by landed estates purchase for parcelling aims and giving long-term credits for land purchase. However, according to status, the National Bank for Agriculture was able to parcel out landed properties, both purchased for private property and entrusted to commission state. Tasks put against parcellation conducted by the National Bank for Ag-riculture were not carried out in a satisfactory way. The Bank’s activity did not contribute to shopping the process of farms fragmentation at serious level and process of agrarian overpopulation’s growth among fewer ownership. Similarly, it also was not an essential source of establishing new farms capable of competing with vast-land ownership.