Socioekonomski procesi u obiteljskim poljoprivrednim gospodarstvima Istre
Socioeconomic Processes in Family Farming in Istria

Summary/Abstract: The paper discusses changes in agricultural family farming in Istria occurring in the past thirty years, from the viewpoint of human and production resources. The analysis rests on the findings of two surveys conducted in two periods on agricultural farms and is based on available statistical data. In the first part of the paper, the authors describe the main characteristics in the movement and structure of the population of Istria which has increased in the period observed. The most radical changes that occurred in its structure were a dramatic fall of the share of rural population. This also had an impact on the changes in the socioeconomic structure of family farming in which, with regard to the 1970s, the number of active farmers dropped and the family members not working on the farms doubled in number. In addition, the number of family farms dropped by one third, the area of unarable land increased and the livestock fund decreased. According to results of the survey, the farms maintained the same structure of production, which is still mostly self-sufficient in character. Thus the development of family farming in Istria should be viewed in the context of development of other activities, especially the rural tourist industry and agrotourism.

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