Land Tenure System: Importance and Features

In this article we will discuss about Land Tenure System. After reading this article you will learn about: 1. Importance of Land Tenure System 2. Features of an Ideal Land Tenure System.

Importance of Land Tenure System:

Land tenure system has got its specific importance for the development of agriculture.

The following are some of the importance of land tenure system:

(i) Locating Actual Owner:

Land tenure system prevailing in the country helps to locate the actual owner of the land by the government. Locating owners of land is important for recovering land revenue and also to implement agricultural development programmes.

(ii) Development of Agriculture:

Land tenure system helps a cultivator to establish rights of ownership of land by farmers. This would help the farmers to establish a link between the cultivators is the government. Land tenure system makes the ownership of land more secure and permanent, which is very much important for the development of agriculture.

In this connection, Arthur Young has rightly observed, “the magic of private ownership turns dust into gold. Give a person a secured right to a large mountain and he will turn it into a garden. However, if the same garden is leased to him for nine years, he will turn it into a desert.”

(iii) Importance of Society:

Social structure of a country is also influenced by the land tenure system. If the land distribution pattern in a country is skewed or uneven then it paves the way for exploitation of farmers. But when the farmer’s right over the land is already established, it may lead to equitable distribution of income and thereby the society will become comparatively peaceful.

Features of an Ideal Land Tenure System:

Ideal land tenure system should maintain certain basic features which are important for preserving the interest of the farmer, in general.

The second five year Plan document has identified the following features for an ideal land tenure system:

(i) The tiller or cultivator of the land should possess a definite and permanent right over his land.

(ii) Rent should be collected from the cultivators at reasonable rate.

(iii) The limits of cultivation process must be specified clearly.

(iv) Farmers should be given the full rights to transfer the ownership of the land.

(v) Fixation of rents on land should be flexible.

(vi) Inequalities in the distribution of land should be reduced to the minimum.

(vii) The land tenure system should establish a direct contact between the government and the farmer. Thus in order to ensure an ideal land tenure system the above mentioned features should prevail in the system and also be maintained in the long run.