Department of Economics, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Ciudad Real 13071, Spain.
J Dairy Sci. 2011 Jan;94(1):517-25. doi: 10.3168/jds.2010-3377.
The effect of land fragmentation on agriculture has worried policymakers for a long time because it is expected to be a negative effect. Land consolidation policies are frequently implemented to soften the degree of land fragmentation. However, to the authors' knowledge, no study in the dairy sector has empirically analyzed the role of land fragmentation on farm productivity and profits. This study helps to fill this gap in the literature by evaluating the effect of land fragmentation on milk production. To accomplish this, a stochastic frontier production function was estimated. This empirical analysis uses information corresponding to a sample of Spanish dairy farms located in a region where dairy production is by far the most important agricultural product and land is highly fragmented. As policymakers in the region assume that land fragmentation has a negative influence on agricultural production, particularly in dairy production, a land consolidation process was developed. Thereafter, a simulation analysis was carried out to evaluate the increase in profits that could be obtained by reducing land fragmentation. The results show that dairy farms could increase their profits in a range between 9.4 and 14% by reducing the degree of land fragmentation in a proportion similar to that attained by the land consolidation process that is being carried out in the region.
土地破碎化对农业的影响令政策制定者担忧已久，因为其预计会产生负面影响。土地整治政策经常被实施以降低土地破碎化的程度。然而，据作者所知，乳制品行业中还没有研究从实证角度分析土地破碎化对农场生产力和利润的作用。本研究通过评估土地破碎化对牛奶产量的影响，有助于填补该文献中的空白。为了实现这一目标，采用了随机前沿生产函数进行了估计。该实证分析使用了来自西班牙乳制品农场的信息，这些农场位于一个乳制品生产是迄今为止最重要的农产品且土地高度破碎化的地区。由于该地区的政策制定者认为土地破碎化对农业生产，尤其是乳制品生产有负面影响，因此开展了土地整治进程。此后，进行了模拟分析以评估通过减少土地破碎化可获得的利润增长。结果表明，通过降低与正在进行的地区土地整治进程相似的土地破碎化程度，乳制品农场的利润可提高 9.4%至 14%。
