The aim of the article was to identify the significance of subsidies for operational activity in shaping the economic results of fruit farms in the Małopolska and Pogórze region. The research area covered the Region 800 in Poland – Małopolska and Pogórze, distinguished within the FADN, which is characterised by high agrarian fragmentation and development of fruit production. The research was conducted on the basis of a questionnaire in 45 fruit farms. The descriptive method and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient were used in the data analysis. The research shows that fruit farmers received financial resources in the form of subsidies and EU subsidies from various programmes. Most of them used funds available under the Rural Development Programmes 2007–2013. Direct payments were a more common form of EU aid. The obtained financial resources were mainly allocated to the modernisation of the machinery park and current needs (purchase of production inputs). The analyses show that subsidies for operational activity had a large share in the income structure of some farms. However, based on Spearman's rank correlation, no correlation was found between subsidies and the profitability or profitability of fruit farms.