A competitive market also must be developed that will allow farmers to buy supplies and sell their harvests for a profit. Until that infrastructure is developed, the OECD says it expects most new land owners to continue leasing their property to the large farms. In turn, these farms are becoming increasingly dependent on lease arrangements for their survival. The trend has serious implications for many transition countries. In the Slovak Republic, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, more than 80 percent of the land is now farmed in units larger than 100 hectares.
Large farms account for more than half of agricultural land in Hungary, Bulgaria and Estonia.
This is part two of a four-part series on agricultural reform in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics. Inc. All Rights Reserved.