Investigating The Effective Factors on Land Dispersion and Fragmentation In East Azarbayjan Province

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD. Student, Agricultural Development, Faculty of Agricultural Economics and Development, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

2 Professor, Agricultural Development, Faculty of Agricultural Economics and Development, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

Abstract

Reducing productivity and increasing production costs due to land fragmentation of agricultural and horticultural parcels is one of the main obstacles to achieving sustainable agricultural development. The present study carried out with the aim of investigating the factors affecting the land fragmentation in East Azerbaijan Province. So, identification of the factors could pave the solutions for organizing the current agricultural land status. The statistical population of this research was farmers of the agricultural sector located in East Azarbaijan province (N=212926). The sample size was estimated using Cochran formula and 380 people were selected by stratified sampling method. The research instrument was a questionnaire, that its validity reviewed and corrected using a group of academic researchers and experts in the field of agricultural land fragmentation in the land affairs organization of Iran. Reliability of the questionnaire was calculated by measuring Cronbach's alpha (0.85). The results of factor analysis showed that the studied variables were grouped into six factors: economic, physical-skeletal, social, regulatory, historical-religious, and agronomic. These six factors explainng 65.13% of the variance of the determinants factors of agricultural land fragmentation in the study area. The results showed that the economic factor (the traditionality of operating systems, the primacy of facilities and agricultural production methods in rural areas, the low agricultural land productivity, the distance from the source of water, the existence of agricultural laws and policies Inappropriate, lack of suitable cultivating pattern and lack of financial power of farmers to buy or exchange parcels) is the most important factor of agricultural land fragmentation in East Azerbaijan province.

Keywords


  1. 1.     Abdollahzadeh, G. (2005). Factor affection on land fragmentation and formulate appropriate method to its consolidation. MSC thesis. University of Tehran. (In Farsi).

    2.     Abdollahzadeh, G., Kalantari, KH, Sharifzadeh, M.SH, & Sehat, A. (2012). Farmland Fragmentation and Consolidation Issues in Iran; an Investigation from Landholder's Viewpoint. Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology. 14(Supplementary Issue), 1441-1452

    3.     Al-Kulayni. 1990. Al-kafi. Vol. 5, H215, Ch. 40, h1

    4.     Amjadi, A., & Chizari, A. H. (2006). Agricultural mechanization situation in Iran. Agricultural Economy and Development, 14 (55), 155-182. (In Farsi).

    1. Asefi, A. (2000). The GIS application in land consolidation and rural development (case study: roosht-e-bozorg village in Bonab conty). Retrieved from: http://economy.blogfa.com/post-57.aspx. (In Farsi).
    2. Ayyubi, S., & Jalalian, A. (2016). Land assesment (natural resources and agricultural land using). Isfahan: University of Isfahan. (In Farsi).
    3. Bakhshoodeh, M. )1988). Economical investigation of land dispersion in fars province of Iran. Msc thesis, Faculty of agriculture, the University of Shiraz. (In Farsi).
    4. Barlett, J. E., Kotrlik, J. W., & Higgins, C. C. (2001). Organizational research: Determining appropriate sample size in survey research. Information Technology, Learning, and Performance Journal, 19(1), 43.

    7.     Bafekr, H. (1993). A Paper on Land Fragmentation. Rural and Agricultural Economic Research Center, MOA, Tehran. (In Farsi).

    10. Bentley, W. (1987). Economic and ecological approaches to land fragmentation: In defence
    of a much-maligned phenomenon. Annual Review of Anthropology, 16, 31–67.

    11. Berry, R. A., & Cline, W. R. (1979). Agrarian structure and productivity in developing countries. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.

    12. Binns, O. (1950). The consolidation of fragmented agricultural holdings (Vol. 11).
    Washington DC: FAO Agricultural Studies.

    13. Binswanger, H. P. & Rosenzweig. Edgs, M.R. (1984). Countractual arrengments, Employment and wages in rural labor markets in Asia. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    14. Blaikie, P. & Sadeque, A. (2000). Policy in the high Himalayas: Environment and development in the Himalayan region. Kathmandu: ICIMOD.

    15. Chao, K. (1986). Man and land in Chinese history: an economic analysis. Stanford university press, California.

    16. Cochran, W. G. (1977). Sampling techniques (3rd ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons.

    17. Demetriou, D. Stillwell, J. & See, L. (2012). Land consolidation in Cyprus: Why is an Integrated Planning and Decision Support System required? Land Use Policy, 29 (1), 131–142.

    18. Eftekhari, R. (2003). Agricultural development. Samt publication: Tehran. (In Farsi).

    19. Ehlers, E. (2001). Iran: City-Rural- Nomads (papers collation). Translated by abbas saeidi. Monshi publication. First edition. Tehran. (In Farsi).

    20. European environment agency (2001). Fragmentation of land and of forests.

    21. FAO (2015). FAO statistical pocketbook world food and agriculture.

    22. Foster, A. D., & Rosenzweig, M. R. (2010). Barriers to Farm Profitability in India: Mechanization, Scale and Credit Markets. Retrieved from: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/265080073. Retrieved on: 01 August 2015.

    23. Grigg, D. (1980). Population growth and agrarian change: A historical perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge Univesrity Press.

    24. Gun, S. (2003). Legal State of Land Consolidation in Turkey and Problems in Implementation, Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences, 6(15), 1380-1383.

    25. Hejrati, M., & Afshari, M. (2010). The role of land ownership in rural development (case study: district of payin rokh in Torbat-e- heydariyeh). Human geography research quarterly. 1, 123-136. (In Farsi).

    26. Hooi, T. S. (1978). Fragmentation of paddy farms, its determinants and impact in the Muda area, Kedah, West Malaysia. MSc thesis, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok.

    27. Houston, J. M. (1953). A social geography of Europe. London: Gerald Duckworth.

    28. Jamshidi, A., Teimori, M., & Jamshidi, M. (2012). Analysis of factors affecting land fragmentation in Shirvan Chardavol County, and provision of appropriate reorganizing mechanisms. Iranian Journal of Agricultural Economics and Development Research, 42-2(3), 367-378. (In Farsi).

    29. Javan, J., & Saboonchi, Z. (2012). Analytical Investigation of effective factors on agricultural land fragmentation and land consolidation challenges (case study: Neishabour plain). Journal of Arid Regions Geographic Studies. 2(8), 1-19. (In Farsi).

    30. Johnson, E. G. (1970). A note on the economics of fragmentation. The Nigerian Journal of Economic and Social Studies, 12, 175–184. 8.

    31. Kalantari, K., Hoseini, M., & Abdolahzadeh, G. (2005). Land consolidation am reorganizing with eastern europian countries experiences. Rural and Development Quarterly. 4, 67-130. (In Farsi).

    32. Karbasi, A. (2012). Agricultural development policies, Torbat-e-heydariyeh university Press (In Farsi).

    33. Karouzis, G. (1977). Land ownership in Cyprus: Past and present. Nicosia: Strabo.

    34. King, R. & Burton, S. (1982). Land fragmentation: Notes on a fundamental rural spatial
    problem. Progress in Human Geography, 6(4), 475–494.

    35. Matondi, P.B. (2013). Scope for Empowering Women through Entrepreneurial Development in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable (FFV) Sector in Zimbabwe, Investment Climate and Business Environment Research Fund (ICBE-RF), Dakar, January 2013. http://trustafrica.org/en/publications-trust/icbe-research-reports?download=84:scope-for-empowering-women-through-entrepreneurial-development-in-the-fresh-fruit-and-vegetable-ffv-sector-in-zimbabwe.

    36. McCloskey, D. N. (1975). The persistence of english open fields. In: W. N. Parker & E. L. Jones (Eds.), European peasants and their markets: Essays in agrarian economic history (pp. 73–122). Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    37. Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) (1992). The Feature of Farmlands in Iran. Department of Productive Units and Agro-industries, Tehran. (In Farsi).

    38. Minli, Y. (2000). Regional comparison of the development of agricultural mechanization in China. Transactions of the CSAE, 16 (4), 68-72.

    39. Mohammadi Yeganeh, B., Cheraghi, M., & Nabati Ghareh Gheshlagh, A. (2011). Analysis of barriers to agricultural mechanization development in order to sustainable rural development achievement (case study: rural corridor Mirjan-Mehrabad). Proceeding of first national conference on geography and rural development planning. 16-17 December, Mashhad. (In Farsi).

    40. Nancy L.J. & Vernon W.R. (1994). Why are farms so small? World Development, 22(5), 691-706.

    41. Nasiri, H. (2000). Sustainable Development, Third World Perspective. Farhang- e- andishe publication. Tehran. (In Farsi).

    42. Nguyen, T. Cheng, E. & Findlay, C. (1996). Land fragmentation and farm productivity in China in the 1990. China Economic Review, 7(2), 169-180.

    43. Niroula, G.S. & Thapa, G.B. (2005). Impacts and causes of land fragmentation, andlessons learned from land consolidation in South Asia. Land Use Policy, 22, 358–372.

    44. Pilar, C.L. (1985). Effect of agricultural mechanization on farm income patterns. Journal of Philippine Development, 12 (1), 98-210.

    45. Pingali, P. (2007). Agricultural Mechanization: Adoption Patterns and Economic Impact. Handbook of Agricultural Economics, 3, 2779-2805.

    46. Rajabi Jahroodi, M. (2004). Investigation the Role of Banks' Credits on Capital Investing and Investment in Agricultural Sector, First Conference of Agriculture and National Development, Agricultural Planning and Economic Researches Institute. (In Farsi).

    47. Rezaei moghaddam, K, Rahimi, S, & Bakhshoodeh, M. (2014). Individual, Economic, Social, Environmental and Agronomic Factors Affecting Adoption of Agricultural Land Consolidation by Wheat Growers in Shiraz County, Volume 6, Issue 22, Summer 2014, Page 135-157. (In Farsi).

    48. Rostami, S., Taleshi, M., Khanjari, F., & Sedaghat, M. (2008). Investigation effective factors of socio- cultural in agricultural land dispersion in district of posht-darband of kermanshah province, Jeography Magazine. 16, 17. (In Farsi).

    49. Sallaku, F. et al., (2010). The Role of Land Consolidation Activities in the Sustainable Rural
    Development in Albania, Research Journal of Agricultural Science, 42(3), 45-59.

    50. Shahbazi, E. (1988). Agricultural development and land fragmentation issue, 1st conference investigation of agricultural development problems in Iran. agricultural and natural resource researches organisation. P 507-563. (In Farsi).

    51. Shahbazi, E. (1996). Some of the basic issues of production in Iran's agricultural sector. The Academy of Science Quarterly. 4, 111-128. (In Farsi).

    52. Shahnooshi, N. (2013). Aging farmers is the silent threat in agriculture section. Official website of Agriculture and food industre of Iran. http://www.foodpress.ir/Post.aspx?Id=25156. (In Farsi).

    53. Shenggen. F. & Chan-kang, C. (2005). Is small beauty? Farm size productivity and Poverty in Asian agriculture. Agricultural Economics, 32(1), 135-146.

    54. Sklenicka, P., Zouhar, J., Trpáková, I., & Vlasák, J. (2017). Trends in land ownership fragmentation during the last 230 years in Czechia, and a projection of future developments. Land Use Policy67, 640-651.

    55. Soheili, K. (1992). Impacts of agricultural land dispersion in economical productivity of them (case study: dinoor of kermanshah province). Msc Thesis. Pp 10-14. (In Farsi).

    56. Statistical center of Iran. (2015). www.amar.org.ir. (In Farsi).

    57. Taghvayi, M. (1997). Introduction and compare of time-space factors of agricultural land fragmentation and land consolidation problem, Magazine ofLiterature and Social Science, faculty of Isfahan university. 9, 1-34. (In Farsi).

    58. Taleb, M. (1988). The factors of land fragmentation and indigence of land holdings consolidation, Magazine Of The Growth Of Geography Education, 11, 13. 14, 15. (In Farsi).

    59. Taleb, M. (1989). The role of family enterprising holding in agricultural development. Social Science Quarterly, 3, 145-160. (In Farsi).

    60. Tan, S. Heerink, N. & Qu, F. (2006). Land fragmentation and its driving forces in China. Land Use Policy, 23(3), 272–285. 29.

    61. Trnka, J., (2002). Land Fragmentation and Land Consolidation in Czech, Republic,
    Documentation of The International Symposium.

    62. Uyan, M. Cay, T. Inceyol, Y. Hakli, H. (2015). Comparison of designed different land reallocation models in landconsolidation: A case study in Konya/Turkey. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 110, 249-258.

    63. Van den Berg, M. M., Hengsdijk, H., Wolf, J., Van Ittersum, M. K., Guanghuo, W., & Roetter, R. P. (2007). The impact of increasing farm size and mechanization on rural income and rice production in Zhejiang province, China. Agricultural Systems, 94 (3), 841-850.

    64. Van Dijk, T. (2003). Dealing with Central European Land Fragmentation. Eburon, Delft.

    65. Van Dijk, T. (2007). Complications for traditional land consolidation in Central Europe. Geoforum, 38 (3), 505–511.

    66. Van Hung, P. MacAulay, G. & Marsh, S. (2007). The economics of land fragmentation in the North Vietnam. The Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 51, 195–211.

    67. World Development Report (2008). Agriculture for Development. Washington, DC. World Bank.

    68. Wu, Z. Liu, M. & Davis, J. (2005). Land consolidation and productivity in Chinese household crop production. China Economic Review, 16, 28–49.

    69. Yasouri, M. (2010). The reasons for minimum profitability of production factors in rural areas. Journal of Geography and Regional Development, 5(9). (In Farsi).

    70. Zare Mehrjerdi, M R, Esfandiari, S, Sepahvand, E, & Nikzad, M. (2017). Investigate the Effect of Mechanization on Productivity of the Iranian Agricultural Sector (Use A Comparative Approach Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model and Genetic Algorithms). Iranian Journal of Agricultural Economics and Development Research48(1), 9-22. (In Farsi).

    Zare, A. (2000). Impacts and causes of land dispersion in Fars province. Papars presented in 3rd conference of agricultural economics of Iran. Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, first Volume, 1111-1123. (In Farsi).