Operational programs of organizations of fruit and vegetable producers from the perspective of agricultural policy - assessment and recommendations

Abstract

Objectives The main objective of the work is to assess operational programs (OP) implemented in fruit and vegetable producer organizations (PO) as a tool of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and to formulate recommendations for the future. Material and methods Research methods are based on a review of the literature on the subject and an analysis of source documents related to P.O., implemented in the years 2013 2018. Opinions of beneficiaries on P.O. were obtained by conducting questionnaire interviews using the CATI method in the population of fruit and vegetable producer organizations (P.O.) benefiting from (OP). Results A number of weaknesses have been identified resulting from the implementation of OPs, i.e. an overburden of complex administrative obligations, time-consuming and repetitive inspections carried out in the POs and unsuited result measures that discourage producers from using the POs. Conclusions Future operational programs should contain a greater number of actions allowed to be implemented and guarantee greater freedom of choice for beneficiaries. Controls on the use of public funds should be carried out efficiently, taking into account the need to minimize workload and other burdens on PO members. To assess the effectiveness of P.O. indicators should be used that more adequately measure the result of the actions taken and at the same time are not burdensome for the beneficiaries.

Keywords

• interventionism
• operational programmes
• fruit and vegetable market
• producer organizations
• common agricultural policy (cap)