Agricultural Land Fragmentation Research Articles

Analysis of the state of agricultural entrepreneurial activity – production of Varaždin county

The Varaždin County is experiencing a decrease in arableagricultural land and an increasing withdrawal from agriculturalproduction, despite favorable conditions for engaging in this activity.Most agricultural subjects are small family farms, with persons over 60years old predominating among the holders/managers of production.The fragmentation of agricultural land and the reduced number ofyoung farmers further complicate the situation.Positive initiatives aimed at benefiting existing farmers and motivatingyoung people to engage in agricultural production include the provisionof grants for growth and development, emphasizing investmentsin modernization and increasing production capacities, while alsosignificantly encouraging the production of indigenous products. Thegoal is to stop the decline in the number of agricultural subjects andmodernize their production to enable them to compete in the marketand contribute to achieving self-sufficiency in agricultural production.

Regional Heterogeneity in Livelihood Strategies and Its Implications for Household Welfare: A Panel Data Analysis of Rural Vietnam

This study undertakes a meticulous examination of the Livelihood Strategy Diversity Index (LSDI) and its nuanced implications on household welfare in heterogeneous regions of rural Vietnam. Employing a unique panel dataset derived from the Vietnam Access to Resources Household Survey (VARHS) spanning from 2010 to 2018, the study employs both Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and instrumental variable (IV) methods to investigate the intricate relationship between LSDI and household welfare, with a specific focus on income and dietary diversity. The empirical findings reveal compelling evidence of pronounced regional heterogeneity, highlighting the distinctive impacts of the LSDI on household welfare across diverse geographical areas. This study underscores the importance of region-specific strategies, advocating for a tailored and diversified approach to agricultural activities aligned with the unique context of each region. Furthermore, the findings emphasize the pivotal role of consolidating small plots as a strategic measure to alleviate agricultural land fragmentation, offering valuable insights into region-specific interventions for the enhancement of household well-being, encompassing both income and nutritional diversity.

Peri-urban landscapes and the potential of integrated foodscapes to support healthy cities: an Aotearoa New Zealand case study

ABSTRACT Aotearoa New Zealand is experiencing unprecedented competition in land use priorities on the edges of its cities and settlements – referred to as the peri-urban zone. Housing and food production compete with one another in a legislative planning context that supports a dichotomy of urban or rural land use. Food production is being driven further away from urban settlements, where 85% of New Zealanders live, as demand for housing increases, and land is re-zoned from rural to urban. Consequently, cities and settlements within Aotearoa New Zealand are increasingly seen to be spatially disconnected from their productive hinterlands. The resulting land use polarity occurring in the peri-urban zone is problematic for local food production, driving issues of agricultural land fragmentation, the loss of highly productive soils, ‘reverse sensitivity’, and impacts on human health and wellbeing. Engaging with both residents and food producers who reside and work within the peri-urban zone, this research applies a ‘design thinking’ methodology to the case study site of Ōtautahi Christchurch, exploring the question, ‘how can food production and housing best co-exist at the edges of Aotearoa New Zealand’s cities and settlements?’ to support human health and wellbeing outcomes. This paper presents five participant-driven future land use scenarios, which were developed based on survey responses collected from both peri-urban residents and food producers. The land use scenarios were then tested in a workshop setting with both groups assessing the potential of each scenario to address the land use conundrum that Aotearoa New Zealand peri-urban areas are currently facing, ultimately identifying land use strategies for healthier city areas that are designed for both housing and local food production.

The effects of agricultural machinery services and land fragmentation on farmers' straw returning behavior

AbstractStraw returning is important for rural ecological management and sustainable agricultural development. Using farm survey data for Anhui Province, China, in 2020, we applied the double‐hurdle model to investigate the impact of agricultural machinery services and land fragmentation on farmers' straw‐returning behavior, and to explore the relationship between agricultural machinery self‐service and outsourced service. Self‐service had a significant positive effect on farmers' straw‐returning behavior, while outsourced service had a significant positive effect only on degree of adoption. Land fragmentation had a significant negative effect on farmers' straw‐returning behavior, and significantly inhibited the effect of self‐service on adoption decision. Complementarity existed between self‐service and outsourced service in farmers' straw‐returning adoption decision, and the effect was more pronounced among smaller‐scale farmers. There was significant substitutability between self‐service and outsourced service in degree of adoption among larger‐scale farmers. Transfer and integration of rural land, increasing agricultural machinery purchase subsidy, upgrading farmers' self‐service capability, and promoting development of socialized agricultural machinery services should be implemented to promote crop straw returning. EconLit Citations: Q01, Q16.

STUDY ON THE USE OF AGRICULTURAL LAND IN THE NORTH-WEST DEVELOPMENT REGION OF ROMANIA BASED ON THE SOCIOLOGICAL SURVEY

The paper aims to present the situation of agricultural lands and the effects of their management on the sustainable development of agriculture in the North-West Development Region of Romania, at the level of 2023. The study is based on data taken through the sociological survey method based on a questionnaire, of a number of 276 respondents. The collected data were interpreted for the following indicators: the type of agriculture practiced, agricultural techniques applied, the involvement of agricultural farms in associative forms, the surface of agricultural land, irrigation of agricultural land, fragmentation of agricultural land, types of crops and the use of modern technologies for a digital agriculture. After analysing the data, it is observed that a predominantly conventional and mixed agriculture is practiced, using an average of 150 hectares per farm. Due to the large presence of arable land, the main crops are field crops, represented by cereals and fodder plants. Permanent crops represented in particular by permanent meadows are owned by the majority of farmers (87.3%), and horticultural crops are present in only 27.17% of farms. Modern technologies have a high potential in the development of the region and must be exploited more in the future.

Does Land Fragmentation Affect the Effectiveness of Fiscal Subsidies for Agriculture: Evidence from China

Fiscal and land policies are important tools in developing agriculture in China. Understanding how agricultural subsidies and land fragmentation jointly affect agricultural Total Factor Productivity (TFP) is crucial for building a strong agricultural nation. This paper utilizes microdata from fixed observation points in rural China from 2003 to 2017 and employs panel bidirectional fixed-effect models and moderation-effect models to empirically analyze the impact of agricultural subsidies and land fragmentation on agricultural TFP. The research finds: (1) Agricultural subsidies positively affect agricultural TFP, while land fragmentation leads to decreased agricultural TFP. (2) Land fragmentation hinders the positive effects of agricultural subsidies on agricultural TFP. A 1% increase in land fragmentation could lead to approximately a 3% decrease in the enhancement effect of agricultural subsidies, with significant impacts on households in major grain-producing areas and those primarily engaged in agriculture. (3) There is no evidence that reforms in the “three agricultural subsidies” would alter the combined effect of agricultural subsidies and land fragmentation on agricultural TFP. The obstructive role of land fragmentation cannot be mitigated through the “three agricultural subsidies” reform. The study indicates that the incentivizing role of agricultural subsidies has not been fully realized, and land fragmentation remains a key bottleneck in agricultural development. Fiscal support for agriculture should be coupled with effective land reform policies for synergistic efforts.

Aging, land fragmentation, and banana farmers' adoption of biopesticides in China.

Encouraging farmers to adopt biopesticides is a crucial strategy for protecting the ecological environment and achieving sustainable agricultural development. This study utilizes data from a micro-survey of 454 banana farmers from Hainan Province of China and employs a logit model to analyze the effects of aging, land fragmentation, and their interactions on farmers' adoption of biopesticides, as well as the heterogeneity of farmers in different household life cycles. The findings reveal that aging and land fragmentation both hinder biopesticide adoption, with farmers experiencing higher levels of aging and more fragmented land holdings being less likely to utilize biopesticides in banana production. Mechanism analysis uncovers an interaction effect between aging and land fragmentation that hampers biopesticide adoption. Furthermore, the effects of aging, land fragmentation, and their interaction on biopesticide adoption behavior vary across farmers in different family life cycles. Specifically, aging negatively affects biopesticide adoption behavior for farmers in support households, while land fragmentation negatively influences farmers in dependency and burden households. The interaction between aging and land fragmentation adversely affects farmers in burden households. Our findings highlight the importance of aging agricultural labor and land fragmentation to promote green agriculture in China and call for more relevant policies to encourage farmers with different household life cycles to adopt biopesticides in farming practices.

Is the second generation of transmigrants more prosperous? A study of intergenerational welfare in ex-transmigration settlements

Purpose. This study aims to analyze: (1) the characteristics of the second generation of transmigrants; (2) the welfare of the second generation compared to the first generation.
 Methodology / approach. The research setting is two villages in Rimbo Bujang District, Tebo Regency, Jambi Province, Indonesia. The population of this study consists of second-generation transmigrant families over the age of 20 or married. A simple random sampling method determined the sample. The number of samples is 40 respondents for each selected village; the total sample is 80 respondents for the second generation and 80 for the first generation. A descriptive analysis was conducted with the help of single and cross-frequency tables.
 Results. The welfare of the second generation is improved compared to the first generation. The study found that land fragmentation occurred in transmigrant families, but this did not cause a decrease in welfare, as there are job opportunities outside the agricultural sector and land fragmentation already within the family. The second generation of transmigrants can take advantage of these job opportunities outside the agricultural sector because their education is better than the first generation.
 Originality / scientific novelty. The scientific novelty of this research is related to the object of research, namely the welfare of transmigrant descendants. So far, research on transmigration has focused more on the first generation of transmigration and the macro aspects of the transmigration program.
 Practical value / implications. The government is recommended to facilitate and create a favorable investment climate so that non-agricultural business activities in transmigration villages can develop better. The development of these non-agricultural activities will open up new job opportunities and be able to eliminate the decline in welfare due to the fragmentation of land within the family.

Impact of agricultural production outsourcing service and land fragmentation on agricultural non-point source pollution in China: Evidence from Jiangxi Province

Agricultural production outsourcing service (APOS) are developing rapidly in China. In-depth research on whether the development of agricultural production outsourcing service can reduce agricultural non-point source pollution (ANSP) and the influencing mechanisms is still lacking. This study analyze the underlying mechanisms and empirically estimate the impact of agricultural production outsourcing service on agricultural non-point source pollution, explore the effect of land fragmentation on the relationship between them, and further empirically test these relationships with microsurvey data on farmers in China. The results reveal that agricultural production outsourcing service are negatively correlated with excess nitrogen and chemical fertilizer input. Agricultural production outsourcing service use can reduce excess nitrogen and an increase in the number of plots of land leads to an increase in excess nitrogen, and lower the negative effect of agricultural production outsourcing service on excess nitrogen. Agricultural production outsourcing service affect excess nitrogen by reducing farmers’ input of chemical fertilizers and increasing their adoption of green agricultural production technology. In the future, China should vigorously promote the development of agricultural production outsourcing service organizations, improve the standardization of outsourcing services to expand the scale of agricultural production outsourcing service. The government should also strengthen policy support for the construction of field roads, water conservation and irrigation, and should strive to centrally manage scattered land. It is necessary to encourage small-scale farmers to outsource agricultural production activities to the service organizations, thus reducing the negative effect of land fragmentation and increasing the positive effect of agricultural production outsourcing service in reducing agricultural non-point source pollution.

Utvrđivanje sadržaja hroma, arsena i nikla u poljoprivrednom zemljištu opštine Topola

The content of potentially toxic elements chromium (Cr), arsenic (As) and nickel (Ni), in the agricultural land of the municipality of Topola was examined in this paper, with a presentation of geographic and natural characteristics of the municipality and the land use of agricultural land. The municipality has a central position in Serbia and it is characterized by favourable conditions for growing agricultural cultures. The content of Cr in the land in most cases is between the minimum limit value (MLV) and remediation value (RV), while the content of As on 87% of the examined areas is lower than the MLV, and the content of Ni on 94% of the areas is between the values of the MLV and the RV. It is necessary to take measures of prevention of the use of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes and fragmentation of arable agricultural land as well as implementing the control of soil fertility.

Towards a typology of agri-urban patterns to support spatial planning: evidence from Lisbon, Portugal

Urbanisation in Europe has been the main cause of agricultural land fragmentation and agricultural land use loss and has given rise to significant socio-economic and environmental costs, particularly in urban regions. Accordingly, there is a consensus in the literature that sustaining urban and peri-urban agriculture are significant towards urban sustainable development. This paper aims to characterise agri-urban spatial patterns and changes occurring in the Lisbon metropolitan region (LMR) by using indicators from both urban and agricultural dimensions. A self-organising map (SOM) clustering method was used to build an agri-urban classification. Nine clusters were proposed. We found that in the LMR, urban and agriculture patterns are diverse: agriculture can range from gardening to intensive and extensive forms; and from decline to stability. We discuss that the use of multidimensional indicators enables comprehensive typologies and allows for a better territorial diagnosis that can contribute to informing decision-makers towards more effective protection of agriculture in spatial planning.

The Fragmenting Countryside and the Challenge of Retaining Agricultural Land: The Vermont Case

Many rural areas in the United States and Europe have been changing from agricultural landscapes to a mix of farm and nonagricultural uses. The fragmentation of agricultural land reflects the higher value of nonagricultural uses but may pose a threat to agricultural operations. Vermont, a rural state, has tried to slow the loss and fragmentation of farmland. Agricultural census and land parcel data are analyzed to identify what are the supply and demand factors of fragmentation, what are the pros and cons of fragmentation, and have Vermont’s efforts to regulate development and sustain farming slowed the conversion and fragmentation of farmland? The amount of Vermont farmland has declined sharply since 1959 and a considerable amount of rural land has been fragmented into lots that have limited value for dairy production, the state’s primary agricultural industry. Vermont’s farmland preservation programs appear to have had some success in slowing farmland loss after 2002. However, the economics of farming will continue to challenge the viability of agricultural operations.

Remote sensing-based techniques for water management in small-scale farms in arid climate

Abstract Accurate estimation of actual evapotranspiration () is a critical component in improving agricultural water management and water use efficiency. Remote sensing (RS) techniques provide a promising inexpensive tool for reliable crop water consumption estimations compared to conventional field measurements. Having agricultural land fragmentation and mixed cropping systems in the Nile River Delta, traditional methods of estimating are seemingly challenging. The present study aims to improve agricultural water management at the meso scale using RS-based techniques. Four RS-based methods were employed to estimate in mixed cropping farms at the Nile River Delta. The adopted methods include: (i) the Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL), (ii) the Simplified Surface Energy Balance algorithm (SSEB), (iii) Earth Engine Evapotranspiration Flux (EEFLUX) product, and (iv) the crop coefficient () method. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) test showed a significant difference between the employed RS-based techniques. During the winter season 2018–2019, the estimated varied from 331.33 mm/season to 389.34 mm/season, with an average of 358.76 mm/season. The irrigation efficiency was estimated to be about 55–63%, with an average of 59.55%. The study developed an algorithm to schedule the operation hours of irrigation pumps in the study area based on actual water requirements and pump capacity. The study highlights the relevance of RS methods and the importance of the equitable distribution of water in small farms to enhance water management.

Agricultural land consolidation vs. land fragmentation in Russia

The development of Agricultural Land Consolidation in Russia has always been unique, compared to other countries due to the state land policy, the vastness of the territory, and the variety of natural and soil conditions. Because of it, the internationally recognized and generally accepted approaches and models of it cannot always be accepted and applied. The consolidation of agricultural land in the country is developing sometimes spontaneously and is chaotic. At the federal level, there is an extended trend of the absorption of private land by parastatals. There is also an extended trend of decreasing the land use of coops and increasing the land use of joint-stock companies and partnerships. The development of Agricultural Land Consolidation in Russia is primarily dependent on regional land policies. In Kalmykia, the unique trend continues to increase the number of private farms with an increase in their average size. In this regard, the super goal of the paper is to research how to apply Project Analysis Principles Approach to strengthen the development of Agricultural Land Consolidation in Russia. The specific objective of the paper is to research the role and importance of Agricultural Land Market tools to support the consolidation of agricultural lands.

Charakterystyka gruntów nieprzydatnych rolniczo oraz możliwości ich zagospodarowania na obszarach wiejskich

Rural areas are influenced by many natural, social and economic factors. The historical conditions of social development, such as the rate of population growth, low yields and chronic food shortages, leading to the development of less useful areas with low production potential for agricultural purposes, have had an impact on the current state of rural areas. In addition, there is considerable fragmentation of agricultural land in these areas and a focus on production to meet farmers’ own needs. Scientific literature comprises many proposals to define agriculturally unsuitable land in relation to the marginal, problem or abandoned land. This depends mainly on the research discipline, the authors and the approach to the issue under discussion. This paper aims to review the terminology and characterisation of land unsuitable for agriculture in Poland and selected European and Asian countries. Moreover, studies have been conducted into the reasons for the expansion of these areas and the ways of their development (e.g., performing forestry functions, growing crops for energy purposes, promoting tourism and recreation as well as pedestrian or hippie bicycle routes, creating ecological areas, terracing the slopes), which in the result is the main priority of agricultural development and improvement of the spatial structure of farms. Realising the specific functions the presented land is intended for should determine the direction of changes in their alternative development. All solutions for the development of these areas should be managed with a necessary consideration of social, economic and environmental aspects.

Land use mosaics in Mediterranean rainfed agricultural areas as an indicator of collective crop successions: Insights from a land use time series study conducted in Cap Bon, Tunisia

CONTEXTIn cultivated landscapes, land use patterns related to the diversity of crops, their spatial arrangement into patches and their succession over several years influence many biophysical processes and the production of ecosystem services and disservices. Understanding the determinants of these patterns is a prerequisite for the development of acceptable alternative land use patterns. Most studies deem crop distribution patterns at the landscape level to be the result of individual allocations of crop successions to fields designed at the farm level. However, in some parts of the world, there are collective crop successions that apply to groups of adjacent fields on different farms. OBJECTIVEThe objective of this study was to examine the extent to which the spatiotemporal distribution of crops at the landscape scale relates to collective crop successions. METHODSThe study was based on a Mediterranean rainfed agricultural landscape (67.7 km2) located in northeastern Tunisia, in which collective successions respond to constraints related to agricultural land fragmentation. Combined with field mapping, remotely sensed land use time series were used to identify three-year crop sequences, classify them into crop succession types and identify clusters of adjacent fields with the same type of crop succession. We assumed that such a cluster was the result of a collective succession if the determinants of the individual crop succession locations did not explain its size (expressed in the number of fields). We related such determinants to the characteristics of the fields and their land-use environment and defined them statistically. Then, we developed a spatial permutation test to distinguish clusters resulting only from the determinants of the individual crop succession locations from those resulting from collective succession. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSThe results show that the collective successions mainly comprised biennial successions (wheat sown alternately with legumes, spices or forage crops). These successions were synchronized between adjacent fields based on wheat cultivation; all fields in the same cluster had wheat in the same year. Collective successions were secondarily comprised of fodder-dominant successions. These collective successions involved approximately 40% of the fields and their total area in the study area. These fields belonged to different clusters ranging in size from two to 96 adjacent fields. SIGNIFICANCEThe developed approach is a tool for mapping the likely presence of collective successions and considering this factor in the definition of sustainable land use scenarios at the landscape level for better soil and water management.

Implementation of meta-heuristic optimization algorithms for interview problem in land consolidation: A case study in Konya/Turkey

The cultivation of soil for supply of nutritional products necessary for human life is called agriculture. Although agriculture is very important for human beings, it is getting more difficult day by day to cultivate soil efficiently for various reasons. One of the main causes, which significantly prevents sustainable agriculture, is land fragmentation. Land consolidation is one of the important measures taken in order to prevent further fragmentation of agricultural land and the decrease in yield obtained from agriculture. The land consolidation process consists of several time consuming steps. Interview, today conducted manually in Turkey, is the stage where preferences of landowners are taken. These preferences correspond to the blocks that enterprises want their parcels to be placed at the end of consolidation. The interview phase takes a long time as it is carried out manually by a technician. Various studies have been done to improve the land consolidation, but most of these studies focus on other stages of process. In this study, genetic algorithm, particle swarm optimization, non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II and multi objective particle swarm optimization are applied on the interview problem. The interview problem is a discrete structure optimization problem, thus its solution with traditional methods is difficult and time consuming. Preference lists are generated automatically using optimization algorithms. These lists are compared with the actual interview lists created by the technician. The experimental results confirm the success of algorithms in solving the real world problem.

Land Use Changes in Turkish Territories: Patterns, Directions and Socio-Economic Impacts on Territorial Management

Human activities have been changing the Earth's cover at an unparalleled scale. In this regard, and cover mapping is a decisive advantage for several kinds of research. Also, the outcomes from these investigations could be applied to plan a sustainable regional governance policy. This article studied land-use changes in the Turkish Territories in 1990, 2000, 2012, and 2018 using the Coordination of Information on the Environment (CORINE) data. The results showed a significant and gradual land-use change from agricultural to mostly artificial surfaces. The majority of land-use changes are related to industrial and commercial units and construction sites. The most degraded agricultural land uses are non-irrigated arable land and pastures, while there is an increasing trend in permanently irrigated land. This study's outcome can be considered a surveying baseline for the comparative analysis of similar works for different land-use change trends in Europe or worldwide. Landuse change studies are reliable tools to evaluate the human activities and footprint of proposed strategies and policies in a territory. This article also enables us to understand that Turkey's decisive actors should design development policies to encourage industrial investments and agricultural ventures in Turkey and adapt the land-use/land cover strategies to mitigate agricultural land fragmentation.

Are There Any Undesired Effects of Anti-Land Fragmentation Programs on Farm Production Practices and Farm Input Use?

Most policies designed to reduce land fragmentation involve land consolidation. However, research examining the relationship between agricultural zoning and land fragmentation has not yet been explored. This paper considers the causal impact of an anti-land fragmentation policy on farmland use and farm production inputs relevant to environmental quality using a population-based census survey of farm households in Taiwan. Using the regression discontinuity method, we found that the anti-land fragmentation policy reduced the proportion of farmland used in farm production and environmental conservation by 2.4% and 2.6%, respectively. The policy also impacted the proportion of farmland using fertilizers, irrigation systems, and underground water. Our results show that anti-land fragmentation policies must be carefully designed to avoid negatively impacting farmland use and the environment.

Arazi Toplulaştırma Projelerinin Arazi Parçalanma Değişimine Etkisi: Türkiye ve Polonya Örneği

Tarım arazilerinin parçalanması tüm dünyada yaygın bir problemdir ve bu problem tarım işletmeleri için arazi kullanımının, sürdürülebilir tarım ve rasyonel tarımsal kalkınmanın önündeki en büyük engellerden biridir. Arazi Toplulaştırması, arazi parçalanma etkilerini ortadan kaldırmak için parsellerin yeniden tahsisini içerir. Arazi Toplulaştırma projelerinden beklenen toplulaştırma sonrasında işletmelerin parsel sayılarını mümkün olduğunca en aza indirmektir. Böylece, Arazi Toplulaştırma projeleri ile arazi parçalılığı ve bununla birlikte işçilik, yol, sulama, bakım gibi girdiler azalmakta ve bu projelerden sağlanan verimi oldukça artırmaktadır. Bu nedenle arazi parçalılığının ölçülmesi, Arazi Toplulaştırma projelerinin planlanmasında ve sonuçlarının değerlendirilmesinde önemlidir. Arazi parçalılığı değerlendirilirken belirli bir işletmenin sahip olduğu parseller arasındaki mesafe faktörü dikkate alınmalıdır. Çünkü arazi parçalanması birçok parametreye dayanan mekânsal bir olgudur. Bundan dolayı, arazi parçalılığını belirlemede daha doğru bir yaklaşım için mekânsal yapının dikkate alınması gerekmektedir. Bu çalışmanın amacı Arazi Toplulaştırma öncesi ve sonrası parsellerin mekânsal dağılımını göz önünde bulundurarak Arazi Toplulaştırma projelerinin arazi parçalılığı üzerindeki etkisinin değerlendirilmesidir. Bunun içinde Türkiye ve Polonya’dan birer uygulama alanı üzerinde Arazi Toplulaştırmanın arazi parçalılığına etkisi incelenmiştir. Arazi parçalılığını ölçmek için; Average distance of a hectare indeksi, Grouping indeks, Structural indeks, Scattering indeks, Januszewski indeks ve Simmons’s indeks’leri kullanılmıştır. Elde edilen sonuçlara göre arazi toplulaştırma projeleri sonucunda arazi parçalanmasının azaldığını göstermektedir. Ayrıca Arazi Toplulaştırma projelerinde arazi parçalılığın ölçülmesinde parseller arasındaki mesafeyi dikkate alan arazi parçalılık indesklerinin (Average distance of a hectare indeksi, Grouping indeks, Structural indeks, Scattering indeks) kullanımı önerilmektedir.