A Survey of agricultural land dispersion and fragmentation at both global and Iranian levels

The phenomenon of agricultural land dispersion and fragmentation is neither new nor particular to Iran; rather, it is observed in the land management systems of most Asian, European, African, and American countries. The present study attempts to study the present situation in agricultural land dispersion and fragmentation across these continents. The image emerging from the survey will be compared with that of Iran emerging from an agricultural census by the Ministry of Agriculture. It is the objective of this study to use the general image of the existing agricultural land distribution at both global and national levels toward developing strategies and measures required for controlling land dispersion. The data required are derived from a library research and the censuses conducted by FAO, the European Union, and the state ministries of agriculture in the countries surveyed. Based on the results obtained, the world average cultivated area is 8.7 hectares comprising 1.06, 1.3, 14.7, 22.2, 50.7, and 186 hectares in Asia, Africa, Europe, Central America, South America, and North America, respectively. Iran records an average cultivated area of 4.9 hectares, which is approximately half the world average.