Agriculture constitutes one of the first and foremost forms of conscious and organised human activity. Its importance for the society and for the economy stems from its main purpose, namely to meet one of the basic human needs - to satisfy hunger. The period of almost 70 years under consideration brought about exceptional change in the case of Polish agriculture. It consisted of a systematic decline in the potential of agriculture in the economy. The factor that is specific to agriculture - land, evolved relatively the least. Land allocated for agricultural purposes reduced for about one quarter. Much deeper changes have taken place in the other two factors, universal from the point of view of the sectoral application, namely work (human resources) and capital. In the post-war period, trade in agri-food products, albeit small, remained of great importance for the development of Polish agriculture and the entire economy. The nature of the links in this area has also undergone significant changes. Since Poland's accession to the European Union, the balance in foreign trade in agri-food products has been positive and has been growing steadily. This means that foreign customers are becoming increasingly interested in agricultural and food products from Poland. The strategic directions of development for Polish agriculture are the production of bovine meat, poultry meat, eggs, milk and milk products, butter, sugar, fruits, vegetables, pulses, potatoes and cereals. Food consumption has also undergone dynamic changes. The main goal of the paper is to define the position of agriculture in the national economy at various stages of development, as well as changing external conditions, including political, social and economic, which affect this position.