Assessment of the Spatial E ff ects of Land-Consolidation Works Carried out in Poland in the Years 2007 – 2013 * *

A large percentage of rural areas in Poland require deep structural changes. Such lands (in particular, areas in southern and southeastern Poland) are characterized by the excessive fragmentation of land owned by individual farmers, a disadvantageous expanse of lands, and the poor condition of the technical and institutional infrastructures (or a lack thereof). Disadvantageous demographic processes (such as the migration of inhabitants from villages to cities and aging of the local population) also occur in those areas. It is possible to improve the current conditions through the eff ective implementation of rural-area development programs, such as the implementation of land-consolidation works. The objective of this work is to assess the spatial eff ects of land-consolidation works carried out in Poland. The research was based on a representative sample of 38 study objects located in diff erent parts of Poland. For the assumed study objects, changes of the basic parameters that characterize the spatial structure of the lands were examined. These resulted from the performed land-consolidation process: the coeffi cient of the decrease in the total number of parcels and the coeffi cient of the increase in the size of the average plot for the examined objects.


Introduction
Polish accession to the European Union allowed us to cover Polish agriculture by supporting instruments of the Common Agricultural Policy and implementing operations directed towards the sustainable and multi-functional development of rural areas [7].Slow, positive structural changes of the Polish farms may be observed.The results of the Agricultural Census of 2010 [2] point to the gradual concentration of farms, which -as a result of modernization and specialization -are adapting to European Union standards.However, a big part of the Polish rural areas still requires deep structural transformation [8].Disadvantageous demographic processes still occur in the rural areas in Poland (such as the migration of inhabitants to cities and aging of the local inhabitants), and a considerable percentage of farms are small, semi-subsistence, and economically ineff ective farms [4].According to data from 2010 [3], more than 32% of the total number of farms produce less than 2,000 Euros of SO (the economic value of a farm, calculated on the basis of Production Standards -SO).Compared to the agriculture of other EU countries, Polish agriculture is characterized by one of the worst land-use structures [1].A high regional diversifi cation of the structure of plots and farms has occured in Poland [11].In particular, areas in the southern and southeastern parts of Poland are characterized by the excessive fragmentation of lands owned by individual farmers, a disadvantageous expanse of lands in farms, and the poor condition of the technical and institutional infrastructures (or a lack thereof) [9].Therefore, the use of plots in the above-mentioned areas is not as effi cient as in the case of plots with the correct shape and optimum surface area [10].A strong infl uence of the basic parameters characterizing the spatial shape expanse of land plots in farms (such as the extension and perimeter of plots in the local farms as well as the surface area, length, width, and perimeter of the plots of non-residents) on the costs and effi ciency of agricultural production has been proven [10].
It is possible to improve the existing conditions through the eff ective implementation of rural-area development programs, such as the implementation of land-consolidation works.Land consolidation is a tool that allows for eff ecting complex improvements in the spatial structure of farms within an entire village [6]; the eff ective arrangement of lands is one of the most-important factors that facilitates maintaining eff ective agricultural production [5].

Data and Methodology
The objective of the research is to assess the spatial eff ects of land-consolidation works carried out in Poland.Research works were based on a representative sample of 38 randomly selected land-consolidation objects from diff erent parts of Poland (Fig. 1) where land-consolidation works were performed within the RADP (Rural Areas Development Program) 2007-2013 programming period.
The assumed number of test objects in a voivodeship was proportional to the area of land-consolidation works carried out in a voivodeship during the programming period of RADP 2007-2013 (Tab.1).For the tested objects, changes in the basic parameters of the spatial structure of lands resulting from performed land-consolidation works were examined.Based on the total number of plots before and after land consolidation, the percentage share of the reduction of the number of plots as a result of land consolidation, C 1 (1), was calculated: where: N B -total number of plots in the study area before land consolidation, N A -total number of plots in the study area after land consolidation.
The coeffi cient of the increase in the average plot size for the study object, C 2 (2), was calculated on the basis of the average plot size before and after land consolidation: where: A B -the average plot size in the study area before land consolidation, A A -the average plot size in the study area after land consolidation.

Results
Results of the tests are presented in tabular form (Tab. 2).The average values of the percentile coeffi cient of the reduction of the number of plots C 1 vary between 11.6% and 72.3% in particular voivodeships (Fig. 2).This coeffi cient has the highest value (72.3%) for study object 38 in Świętokrzyskie voivodeship (Biedrzychów-Dębno-Nowe, Ożarów Municipality).In the case of study object 31 (Krupice-Klekotowo-Ogrodniki, Siemiatycze Municipality, Podlaskie voivodeship), the value of this coeffi cient was negative (-3.9%); this could prove negative eff ects of the land-consolidation process.However, this was caused by the presence of the Land Community of the village of Ogrodniki (6 plots of a total size of 228 ha before land consolidation); this community was liquidated as a result of land consolidation.Two hundred forty-seven plots were distinguished within the area of the Land Community in the village of Ogrodniki, including 14 plots as roads, which were to serve for the newly distinguished plots (own research based on land register data before and after land consolidation).Based on the performed analyses, it may be estimated that the average coeffi cient of reduction of the total number of plots for the period of 2007-2013 equals 39.3%.The average values of the coeffi cient of the increase in the size of an average plot for study object C 2 in particular voivodeships (Fig. 3) vary between 1.1 (Pomorskie voivodeship) to 3.6 (Świętokrzyskie voivodeship).For each analyzed study object, the coeffi cient value was higher than 1.0 (for each object, the average plot size was increased as a result of land-consolidation works).The estimated value of the coeffi cient of the increase in the size of an average plot for operations performed in the period of 2007-2013 in Poland equals 1.8.This proves that the size of an average plot almost doubled as a result of land consolidation.

Conclusions
The mostly apparent eff ects of land-consolidation works include the reduction of the number of plots, which directly results in a reduction of the number of plots in particular farms.According to the performed tests, the total number of plots for an object was reduced by approx.39.3% as a results of land-consolidation works carried out in Poland during RADP (Rural Areas Development Program) 2007-2013.The coeffi cient of the increase in the average plot size was estimated at a level of 1.8.The obtained results point to the high eff ectiveness of the land-consolidation works carried out in Poland in terms of management in agriculture.
It should be stressed that the analyzed coeffi cients should not be the only measure of the correctness and eff ectiveness of the performed land-consolidation works.Study object no. 31 may be used as an example.The C 1 coeffi cient equaled −3.9%, and C 2 -to 1.0 for that object.However, the eff ects of the land-consolidation works achieved for that object should not be considered negative.The negative C 1 value resulted from the specifi c features of the land-consolidation object.A total of 14.2% of the total area of land consolidation covered 6 plots included in the Land Community of the village of Ogrodniki (228 ha).As a result of land consolidation, the Land Community was liquidated, and a fi eld equivalent was distinguished for each of the 92 entitled participants according to the size of their shares (247 plots were distinguished, including 14 plots for roads; the access to public roads was ensured for each newly designed plot).
According to Woch [12], the current methods of assessing land-consolidation works are based on a partial assessment of economic eff ects (the coeffi cient of the reduction of the number of plots and the coeffi cient of the increase of their sizes) and on the individual assessment of participants of land-consolidation works; this sometimes leads to the positive assessment of projects that improve the fi eld expanse to a minor extent only.However, the performed research works allows us to state that, for each analyzed object, land-consolidation works contributed to improvements in the spatial structure of farms and, therefore, to improvements in farming conditions.Besides improvements in the analyzed parameters (C 1 and C 2 ), the land-consolidation works carried out in Poland in the period of 2007-2013 resulted in many positive changes in the spatial structure of lands.Land-consolidation works performed for the analyzed study objects contributed to improvements in the fi eld expanse of particular farms and infl uenced the eff ectiveness of the agricultural production of those farms.Newly designed plots were usually bigger and were characterized by more-convenient locations.Another important element was the correction of borders, aimed at eliminating the irregular shapes of plots and arranging for a more-eff ective division of the agricultural space.Changes in plot confi gurations on a farm allows for its adaptation to a new system of roads and ditches as well as the elimination of inconveniences related to the use of lands.

Fig. 1 .
Fig. 1.Approximate locations of test objects in Poland

Fig. 2 .Fig. 3 .
Fig. 2. Average coeffi cient of reduction of total number of plots for land-consolidation object in analyzed voivodeships

Table 1 .
Number of tested land-consolidation objects in specifi c voivodeships, calculated on basis of lands consolidated in period 2007-2013 * based on data from Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development