Situation and processes in agriculture in different types of rural areas in Slovenia

Abstract

In the paper an analysis of agricultural situation in different types of rural areas in Slovenia is presented. The analysis is carried out on the sample of rural areas and based on the census data of 1991. The paper also presents the local elite’s perceptions of the processes (the reasons and consequences) which are running in the agriculture in various rural areas in Slovenia. There are only slight differences among the areas. This can be due to the fact that all the areas encounter and try to solve the problems which are typical for the Slovenian agriculture. The differences are in the intensity of problems and processes. The most advantageous situation in agriculture is in the typical rural areas where farm size and demographic structures are most favourable (although still bad). In the mentioned areas the share of farms with assured successors is the highest as well. Among the present processes the two are the most expressive: farming abandonment, and consequently, the overgrowing of the farming land. Both are the most expressive in the areas regarded as the depopulation areas.