Page 358 - Panjek, Aleksander, Jesper Larsson and Luca Mocarelli, eds. 2017. Integrated Peasant Economy in a Comparative Perspective: Alps, Scandinavia and Beyond. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 358
integr ated peasant economy in a compar ative perspective
ed farms. The creation of large agricultural holdings that could compete on
the market was thus hardly possible. Further borrowing was not an option
either, as the farmer’s creditworthiness was seriously undermined in 1930s.
2. The goals of agricultural policy
The dilemma thus faced by the state agricultural policy makers was how
to ensure that Slovenian agriculture with its fragmented nature would
become market-oriented and achieve higher levels of production, both in
the sense of quality and in the sense of yields, which would translate into
higher income for the farmers and a subsequent living standard increase
for all people employed in agriculture. Many human lives and the day-to-
-day quality of life of the majority of the population depended on the an-
swer to this fundamental dilemma. These agricultural dilemmas were pre-
sented to the Slovenian public by Anton Pevc (1924, 5) who did not mince
his words: “Slovenia will either have to increase agricultural production or
reduce the agricultural population by half.” He was certain that this would
happen on its own and claimed one should try to prevent such an outcome
through agricultural policy measures that would transform Slovenian agri-
culture by increasing farm size and the cost-effectiveness of production.
As we have already pointed out, Slovenian agricultural policy was
based on three main points: the education of farmers, the use of inter-
nal reserves and the gradual and subsidised modernisation of technolo-
gy in order to increase productivity. From a business standpoint, this pro-
cess should have resulted in the peasants turning into entrepreneurs and
the farm becoming nothing more than a business unit producing for the
market. In order to achieve this, it would have been necessary to monitor
cash flow in agriculture by instituting farm accounting. In this process of
conceptual and technological restructuring, farmers would also be helped
along by co-operatives as a means of adapting to the capitalist economy.
Co-operatives were supposed to make it possible for farmers to enter the
market by overcoming the limitations and drawbacks of individuals enter-
ing into market relationships. Farmers were supposed to enter the market
as a connected social and economic group (the co-operative), not as indi-
viduals.
Such an agricultural strategy was not unreasonable. Its main objec-
tive, the conceptual and technological transformation of agriculture, was
formulated for the long term. It was decided that the transformation should
involve mid-sized and large farms, as these were the ones that fulfilled the
356
ed farms. The creation of large agricultural holdings that could compete on
the market was thus hardly possible. Further borrowing was not an option
either, as the farmer’s creditworthiness was seriously undermined in 1930s.
2. The goals of agricultural policy
The dilemma thus faced by the state agricultural policy makers was how
to ensure that Slovenian agriculture with its fragmented nature would
become market-oriented and achieve higher levels of production, both in
the sense of quality and in the sense of yields, which would translate into
higher income for the farmers and a subsequent living standard increase
for all people employed in agriculture. Many human lives and the day-to-
-day quality of life of the majority of the population depended on the an-
swer to this fundamental dilemma. These agricultural dilemmas were pre-
sented to the Slovenian public by Anton Pevc (1924, 5) who did not mince
his words: “Slovenia will either have to increase agricultural production or
reduce the agricultural population by half.” He was certain that this would
happen on its own and claimed one should try to prevent such an outcome
through agricultural policy measures that would transform Slovenian agri-
culture by increasing farm size and the cost-effectiveness of production.
As we have already pointed out, Slovenian agricultural policy was
based on three main points: the education of farmers, the use of inter-
nal reserves and the gradual and subsidised modernisation of technolo-
gy in order to increase productivity. From a business standpoint, this pro-
cess should have resulted in the peasants turning into entrepreneurs and
the farm becoming nothing more than a business unit producing for the
market. In order to achieve this, it would have been necessary to monitor
cash flow in agriculture by instituting farm accounting. In this process of
conceptual and technological restructuring, farmers would also be helped
along by co-operatives as a means of adapting to the capitalist economy.
Co-operatives were supposed to make it possible for farmers to enter the
market by overcoming the limitations and drawbacks of individuals enter-
ing into market relationships. Farmers were supposed to enter the market
as a connected social and economic group (the co-operative), not as indi-
viduals.
Such an agricultural strategy was not unreasonable. Its main objec-
tive, the conceptual and technological transformation of agriculture, was
formulated for the long term. It was decided that the transformation should
involve mid-sized and large farms, as these were the ones that fulfilled the
356
