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• Activity depend on the agrarian structure. • No link with the level of commune development. • Authonomy of agriculture development. This paper identifies the relationship between an active use of EU investment support programs by Polish farmers, on one side, and the local conditions for socioeconomic development and natural and structural characteristics of agriculture, on the other. The research was illustrated by the example of Poland, a country with a remarkably fragmented and territorially heterogeneous agrarian structure. This study was carried out at commune level, and used a series of variables to describe the socioeconomic development levels of communes, natural conditions for farming and the agrarian structure. These characteristics were compared with the farmers' activity in accessing EU funds allocated to farm modernization. The Hellwig's synthetic development indicator was used to represent complex phenomena. A strong relationship was found to exist between the implementation of co-financed investments and the agrarian structure at local level. Other factors proved to be insignificant. This suggests that the agricultural development path is somewhat independent from socioeconomic and environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]