The Centre goal is coordination and realization of research, preparation of analysis, expert opinions and elaborations, and conducting training, organizing conferences in the scope small agricultural holdings functioning and transformations also European rural areas development, especially in European Union member states.

The Centre’s formula in the scope of research is opened and allows realization of tasks directly and indirectly concerning problems of rural areas and small agricultural holdings functioning.

The Centre was established by the Directive no 8/2012 issued by the Rector of the University of Agriculture in Krakow on February 29th, 2012.

Centre's scope of tasks include:

• evaluation of shaping economic, local and regional, as of the whole Union, serving rural areas' development and sustainable development of agriculture, especially small agricultural holdings existing in different natural, social and economic conditions;
• analysis and evaluation of small agricultural holdings in particular;
• diversification of income sources
• entrepreneurship of the owners of small agricultural holdings
• management in free market economy
• horizontal and vertical integration
• modernization and innovation
• marketing of agricultural products
• advisory services for small agricultural holdings and rural inhabitants and non-agricultural entrepreneurships
• development of local and regional products
• management of agrarian land, agrarian and structural transformation in the regions of fragmented agriculture
• protection of the environment and supporting of sustainable development of rural areas
• production economy and efficiency of small agricultural holdings
• problems of plant and animal production in small agricultural holdings
• institutional environment of small agricultural holdings and agribusiness
• changes of agro-systems and landscape in the regions with domination of  small agricultural holdings
• innovation and computerization of farms, production services and agricultural turnover
• forests production and craftsman’s processing of wood
• utilization of alternative energy sources as a chance of improvement of energetic safety of rural housholds.