Dearest Mounir, I was in Washington State and visited some farmers who actively supply produce to the farmers markets. Most of their farms are relatively small (a size of a football field) yet the management practices and production technology enable them to supply year round crops and vegetables to these markets. I think with the increasing of population and the rising demand for more land and food, land fragmentation is unavoidable, however a new approach to cultivation and management may sustain productivity and may even increase it since a lot more farmers may be competing for the markets and may add a spice to varieties. However, if fragmentation is occurring with poor cultural practices, then certainly productivity cannot be guaranteed and may lead to various land conflicts.

Dear Mr. Mounir! As you know land fragmentation has affected the productivity in agricultural sector in the Middle East countries and some other parts of the world. The farmers can not be productive in the small farms. In some countries like Iran as one of the ICARDA's member countries we have faced with this Issue and we have tried to solve it by passing some acts and rules in recent years. We have an act for land consolidation and  making the size of the farmers' lands economically. We also have the act of cooperative production for solving the matter. Of course It has some difficulties but we have some successful experiences in this case. Dr Rezaei is ICARDA's representative in Iran and you can make contact with him and get more detail information. I also have a suggestion to do an comparative research or study among different members countries of ICARDA in the region and get the most successful experiences and practices in this case.   

In a general approach, land fragmentation is a factor leading to low yields and high costs. So it is not a problem but, in general. Optimal sizing of a farm area heavily dependent on farming culture and technique chosen. If it's high culture - cereals: gru, corn, sunflower oil etc., then you need to land big stretch to be able to use superior technique in execution. Only on such farms can obtain higher returns. It ese fermelorm situation in Europe, including Romania. Here you usually get one harvest per year.

If it comes to growing vegetables, which I think is most applicable in Middle East, here parcels sizing is based on technology applied to growing demands, market requirements, perishable vegetables, fruit etc. I do not think you can specify an optimal size of cultivated land for each category of vegetables.

So direct response to the question is that crumbled in general is not good in terms of economic efficiency.

I invite you to visit a model farm in Romania

Intr-o abordare generala, fragmentarea terenurilor este un factor care duce la randamente reduse si costuri mari. Problema insa nu se pune asa, in general. Dimensionarea optima a suprafetei unei exploatatii agricole depinde mult de cultura agricola aleasa si tehnica folosita. Daca este vorba de cultura mare – cereale: gru, porumb, floarea soarelui pentru ulei etc, atunci trebuie ca sa ai terenuri mari, intinse pentru a putea sa folosesti tehnica superioara in executarea lucrarilor. Numai pe asemenea ferme se pot obtine randamente superioare. Acesta ese situatia fermelorm din Europa, inclusive din Romania. Aici se obtine de obicei o singura recolta pe an.

Daca este vorba de cultura legumelor, care cred ca este mai des aplicata in Orientul Mijlociu, aici dimensionarea parcelelor se face in functie de cerintele tehnologiei aplicata la cultivare, cerintele pietei, perisabilitatea legumelor, fructelor etc. Nu cred ca se poate preciza o dimensiune optima a terenului de cultivat pentru fiecare categorie de legume.

Deci, raspunsul direct la intrebare este ca faramitarea, in general, nu este buna din punct de vedere al eficientei economice.

Points of view from my side. A) Land-Fragm. is a serous bottleneck in agric. dev. and has led to Billion-$-Investments in Europe and on other continents for re-structuring, consolidations, etc., so that farmers have a) their lands near the farm-stead and b) in larger sizes per plot. B) From my side in Damascus I have seen the same deficits of land-fragmentation in the irrigated lands around the towns and along Euphrate. After the civil&world-war in Syria it is hoped, that the re-building of the Nation will address also the issue of land-consolidation like in Germany after the war. C) In Ethiopian villages I was shocked by the unbelievable degree of fragmentation and by the fact, that the local communities were not able nor ready to address this Topic, which would result into so much easier life for almost all villagers and into higher yields and much higher agr. production-Efficiency. D) Land-fragmentation seems to be a conspicous Symbol and characteristic of back-wardness, anti-Progress, false ideology, destructive conservatism. E) Land-consolidation however should also not be seen as a mean and step towards  mono--culture, excessive farm- and farm-plot sizes, agricultural gigantomanism. The challenge of longterm wise and stable, eco-sound and biodiversity-prone farm- AND plot-sizes remains for all regions.

Dear Mounir,

I have been working on land fragmentation and agricultural productivity of Sri Lanka. I found that the land fragmentation occurs when the size of the family goes up, difficulties in finding land for cultivation or living and cultural practices persists etc. Land fragmentation create several adverse impact to the society as well as individual family. In Sri Lanka, land fragmentation is limited further by some laws in the irrigated cultivation areas. Basically, when the land fragmentation is higher, land productivity goes down. However, some cases in the area have shown different prospects. Generally, the fragmentation has been resulting negative productivity prospects mainly due to higher cost for inputs. That’s why many scholars suggest land consolidation.

You may read the following for further knowledge

1. Patrik Sundqvist, Lisa Andersson, A study of the impacts of land fragmentation on agricultural productivity in Northern Vietnam

2. Tin Nguyen, Enjiang Cheng, Christopher Findlay, “Land fragmentation and farm productivity in China in the 1990s’

3. Effects of land fragmentation and returns to scale in the Chinese farming sector.

4. C Bizimana, WL Nieuwoudt & SRD Ferrer, Farm Size, Land Fragmentation and Economic Efficiency In Southern Rwanda

Dear Lal, If you have PDF copies if the suggested papers would you please share them with me. Best, Mounir

Dear Mounir,

Herewith I have attached some articals. 

Regards,

LAL

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00036840121811

Many thanks Lal

I'm working on the impact of land consolidation on technical efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions and energy efficiency in rice production. This research was carried out in Babolsar, Mazandaran province, Iran. The results show that not only land consolidation has no significant effect on technical efficiency, but also reduces energy efficiency. But the remarkable point is that land consolidation reduces greenhouse gas emissions. The results of this research have not yet been published and I am preparing a paper for publication.

Dear colleague Louhaichi,

The effects of land fragmentation, I assume you suppose and arable land fragmentation could be positive and negative, depends of your view point. Namely, considering the situation about land fragmentation on Middle East countries, it is very similar to situation in many Mediterranean countries, particularly on Mediterranean islands and coastal areas. On one hand, fragmentation of arable land (or areas) is necessary in order to prevent erosion, particularly during the wet part of season characterized by huge and intensive rainfalls in short time (sometimes even during the day or two or even during the few hours) in relation with total annual precipitations. So, in this case, land fragmentation including terracing, constructing of stone walls, etc. is really necessary preventive measure against erosion. On the other hand small and fragmented arable land area is really a bottleneck in organizing the efficient, productive and competitive agricultural production. The question is how to make a so called “golden middle” between these two antipodal factors. One of the possible solutions is growing of specific and highly demandable crops on the market (for instance special local varieties of grapes, or some citrus fruits). The other solution is growing specific and extensive crops which are also demanded on the market (carob for instance). As the matter in fact, land fragmentation is a pretty big challenge for every agronomist, because, organization of efficient and productive agricultural production on highly fragmented arable areas is a kind of art. Particularly, if the reasons of land fragmentation are not predicted by law, i.e. not solved ownership of the land or problems about land inheritance etc., but if the land fragmentation is predicted by environmental factors, such as; relief, prevention of erosion, etc. That’s the 'art of agronomy' and I am glad you start that question.