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Farmers’ entrepreneurship in Poland has both a historical and economic basis and stems from personality traits. It is supported by national and EU projects and funding. Legal conditions also favor farmers’ entrepreneurial activity. The aim of the article was to analyze the influence of selected factors on the development of entrepreneurship among farmers in Siedlce County (with a high percentage of employment in the agricultural sector), measured by the entrepreneurship index in 2012 and 2022, and to find out which factors had the greatest impact on its development over the course of ten years. The research material consisted of data from thirteen municipalities of Siedlce County as at the end of 2012 and 2022, from Statistics Poland, and municipal offices, as well as the results of surveys in which respondents assessed the change in entrepreneurship development conditions in 2022 compared to 2012. The dependence of the entrepreneurship index on selected variables was assessed using the simple correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression equations. The econometric analysis showed that the entrepreneurship index in both 2012 and 2022 in the municipalities of Siedlce County was shaped by: the number of national economy entities, the share of annual own income per capita, and the share of agricultural tax in the municipalities’ own income. The respondents assessed that during the period under study, the share of non-agricultural income in total income increased, while the income situation worsened in relation to 2012 and there was a decrease in income from non-agricultural activities against the income of other occupational groups. Factors that significantly affected the entrepreneurship rate were shown to have changed in the decade under analysis. The overall situation shaping entrepreneurial development has also deteriorated.

The objective of the work reported here was to determine the relationship between herbicide rate and the biodiversity of weed communities in potato cultivated in continuous cropping. A seven-year field experiment was conducted to examine the effect of 4 metribuzin rates and an uncontrol on weed infestation in successive years of continuous potato cultivation. The following indices were calculated: the Shannon-Wiener and Simpson’s indices of species diversity and the Simpson’s index of domination. A total of 33 species were recorded in the experimental plots. Echinochoa crus-galli was the dominant species. The most abundant segetal communities were observed in untreated plots. An application of the herbicide reduced the biodiversity of the agrophytocenosis. Cultivation in continuous cropping increased the species number of the weed community in potato. The herbicide and cultivation in continuous cropping did not significantly affect the biodiversity indices but their values, to a great extent, confirmed the trends revealed by the analysis of weed infestation

A potato experiment was conducted from 2004 to 2006 at the Zawady Experimental Farm. The farm is part of the University of Natural Sciences and Humanities in Siedlce, Poland. Tuber infection and injury by diseases and pathogens of three potato cultivars were assessed according to the potato ridge height and harvest date. The weight of mechanically injured tubers was also determined depending on the potato ridge height and harvest date. The weight of potato tubers infected by fungal and bacterial diseases was influenced by the cultivar, growing season, harvest date, and ridge height. Potatoes grown to their standard height and height ridges, were significantly less infected by diseases at the first harvest date. The weight of tubers in which the tubers were injured by soil pests, was affected by the cultivar and ridge height. Potatoes cultivated in a ridge which was 20 cm high, had tubers with significantly less mechanical injuries compared with a low (16 cm) ridge and high (24 cm) ridge.

The purpose of the study was to determine the relationship between herbicide rate and weed community biodiversity in continuous wheat. A six-year field experiment was conducted to examine the effect of four chlorsulfuron rates in comparison with untreated (the control) plots, on the status and severity of weed infestation - in successive study years of cultivating winter wheat in monoculture. In addition, the following indices were calculated: Shannon-Wiener and Simpson’s index of biodiversity, and Simpson’s index of domination. A total of 36 weedy species were identified in the experimental plots. The richest segetal communities were established in the control plots. An application of herbicide reduced the biodiversity of the agrophytocensosis. A short-term monoculture did not impoverish the species richness of the weed community established in winter wheat. The average number of species in the community was significantly greater in the second study year. In the initial study years of monoculture, the biodiversity of the segetal community increased markedly compared with rotation-based cultivation. The calculated indices of biodiversity were not significantly affected by herbicide rate or monoculture but the indices confirmed the trends outlined by an analysis of the status and level of weed infestation.