The Problems of Farmland Fragmentation and Assessment of Legal Regulations for The Prevention of Farmland Fragmentation in Turkey

Abstract

Land resources which are exclusively saving the farming activities, remains inadequate in aspects of size, fertility and productivity rate while operations in farmlands are observed to be fragmented and scattered. The official data reveals that the average farmland size per households in 2016 was 7.0 parcel unit. It is observed that small-scale farm enterprises are widespread, and the average size of enterprises is insufficient and the distribution of lands between the regions and within the households is uneven. Due to increasing population pressure and inadequacy of non-agricultural employment opportunities, land fragmentation remains as a cumulative challenge to land management and administration. To eliminate this problem, legal arrangements have been made and land consolidation projects have been carried out. In the cause of preventing fragmentation to productive arable farmland due to inheritance and sales of agricultural lands to non-agricultural tenacities, the parliament has made some amendments to some of the sections in Soil Conservation and Land Use Law in 2014 concerning the compulsory farmland ownership and land transfer after inheritance and the prevention of land fragmentation which is frequently emerged due to land selling’s. Nevertheless, the Ministry responsible may only allow the transfer of land by considering certain criteria such as farm size, the sufficient level of revenue generated from the farmland, together with economic integrity of farmland. The aim of the research were to examine the legislations which were enacted to prevent the land fragmentation in agriculture in Turkey, legal lacunas and inadequacies observed in the cause of implementations, and the necessary measures to be taken to solve the problems were outlined. The research results aim at evaluating the causes of disputes over land transfer and to suggest proper solutions to resolve land ownership’s issues based on national survey results as secondary and primary data. Primary data were obtained through the survey and the findings reveal that the main deviations arise from the existing law both at national and in the case of Ankara province. On the other hand, the evaluations of research results were made based on the obtained data from national institutions, and the results of the interviews with the landowners and representative leaders alias “mukhtar”. In-depth interviews and questionnaires were applied in 95 sub-settlements of the district. Interviews were also conducted with a total number of 5 landowners and users in each village, including the neighbourhood representative leaders. Land resources, land distribution based on use types, land ownership, fragmentation and the trends of the enterprises were examined based on the analysis of data obtained from a total of 500 questionnaires. The impacts of legal regulation on land use and land fragmentation were examined and then a situation analysis was conducted in terms of farmland in Polatlı district, one of the oldest human settlements in Anatolia. It is noteworthy that the change in land assets and use in the district is slow, but the practices of tenancy and sharecropping change yearly. It is obviously determined that newly legal provisions and regulations on land resources has a notably impact on the land tenure system, sustainability, land markets and land management strategies and land fragmentations in Turkey. In addition, these regulations have reduced the land mobility and transfer option in local markets and affect land rent and current capitalization rates.