Benefits

Some of the most obvious benefits are detailed below:

One of the most important achievements is the Property Sanitation of all the owners involved in the process, whether they are growers or not, through the identification, titling and registration of rural property, thereby reducing litigation over the properties and simplifying the processing of aid related to agriculture and livestock, request for subsidies, processing of any legal incident, etc. In addition to allowing a source of external financing, since the properties are registered, you can go to the mortgage market, with more advantageous financing costs than other types of credit.

Improves the profitability of farms, through more efficient use of the means of production due to: the reduction in the number of farms and the increase in their average size, the enhancement of marginal areas, the better geometric shapes derived from the new road network and the grouping of lots by farms.

The works related to land concentration (road network, sanitation network, restoration of the natural environment, etc.) are considered of general interest and are paid for entirely from the budgets of the autonomous communities, that is, they are completely free for the owners and entail a general improvement of the infrastructure through the design of a network of roads with width and characteristics appropriate to the means of production of a modern farm, favoring the drainage of the farms and providing all replacement properties with direct access to the road, eliminating rights of way, except in exceptional cases.

Increase in the useful life of the machinery, based on a lower need for transportation due to the improvement of roads and the reduction in the number of maneuvers as the new farms have a larger size and better layout.

In irrigated areas, the new territorial planning and infrastructure generated by this process will favor the installation of new irrigation systems, thereby allowing a more rational use of water.

The land concentration process entails carrying out a series of environmental restoration actions contemplated in a natural environment restoration project, whose main objective is to solve or correct the problems derived from rural infrastructure works linked to the land concentration process. Actions such as: the revegetation of streams, restoration of quarries, creation of wooded spaces, recovery of fountains and watering holes, creation of recreation areas, etc. can be included in this project.

Damages

Regarding the economic cost: the process is very long, usually 10 years from the beginning to taking possession; and the delivery of the deeds takes even more time.[4]​ In addition, this time represents a certain paralysis in agricultural exploitation in the area.

Regarding the environmental cost, the disappearance of margins, banks and “lost” spaces goes against the flora and fauna that inhabit them. Second, the higher yield obtained once the process is completed is often due to greater use of chemicals. This is the reason why land concentration falls within the annexes of the environmental impact assessment law, in particular it appears in annex II of the Environmental Impact Assessment Law.[5]​[6]​ For the traditional bocage landscape, the effects are far-reaching. The result of an insensitive concentration is a general clearing of the boundaries, a subdivision designed with criteria analogous to those of an industrial estate, and the generalization of barbed wire fences as a universal closure procedure.[7]​.

Once the concentration has been completed, cascading actions take place aimed at improving land drainage, eliminating obstacles that hinder the mechanization and cultivation of plots, and smoothing access to the farms. At the same time, groundwater levels are declining globally, due to the proliferation of barely controlled extractions for irrigation. As a result, the network of meadows and wetlands is altered by desiccation,[8]​ which paves the way for the conversion of the entire territory into a cultivated area. The streams are rectified, embedding them between crops. The ponds are blinded, or excavated to size using earthen dams. At the same time, forage production is rationalized, and small council meadows lose their economic value as stabling and intensive forage production through irrigation and silage become widespread. Communal grazing becomes extinct at the same time that threshing floors lose their function.[9] Another effect on the landscape is the immediate accessibility to land whose integrity has been maintained thanks to its remoteness or the state of the roads. The tracks enhance (and this is a conscious purpose of the concentration) agricultural investment throughout the municipal territory.[9]​.

Other very common criticisms are:

Benefits

Some of the most obvious benefits are detailed below:

One of the most important achievements is the Property Sanitation of all the owners involved in the process, whether they are growers or not, through the identification, titling and registration of rural property, thereby reducing litigation over the properties and simplifying the processing of aid related to agriculture and livestock, request for subsidies, processing of any legal incident, etc. In addition to allowing a source of external financing, since the properties are registered, you can go to the mortgage market, with more advantageous financing costs than other types of credit.

Improves the profitability of farms, through more efficient use of the means of production due to: the reduction in the number of farms and the increase in their average size, the enhancement of marginal areas, the better geometric shapes derived from the new road network and the grouping of lots by farms.

The works related to land concentration (road network, sanitation network, restoration of the natural environment, etc.) are considered of general interest and are paid for entirely from the budgets of the autonomous communities, that is, they are completely free for the owners and entail a general improvement of the infrastructure through the design of a network of roads with width and characteristics appropriate to the means of production of a modern farm, favoring the drainage of the farms and providing all replacement properties with direct access to the road, eliminating rights of way, except in exceptional cases.

Increase in the useful life of the machinery, based on a lower need for transportation due to the improvement of roads and the reduction in the number of maneuvers as the new farms have a larger size and better layout.

In irrigated areas, the new territorial planning and infrastructure generated by this process will favor the installation of new irrigation systems, thereby allowing a more rational use of water.

The land concentration process entails carrying out a series of environmental restoration actions contemplated in a natural environment restoration project, whose main objective is to solve or correct the problems derived from rural infrastructure works linked to the land concentration process. Actions such as: the revegetation of streams, restoration of quarries, creation of wooded spaces, recovery of fountains and watering holes, creation of recreation areas, etc. can be included in this project.

Damages

Regarding the economic cost: the process is very long, usually 10 years from the beginning to taking possession; and the delivery of the deeds takes even more time.[4]​ In addition, this time represents a certain paralysis in agricultural exploitation in the area.

Regarding the environmental cost, the disappearance of margins, banks and “lost” spaces goes against the flora and fauna that inhabit them. Second, the higher yield obtained once the process is completed is often due to greater use of chemicals. This is the reason why land concentration falls within the annexes of the environmental impact assessment law, in particular it appears in annex II of the Environmental Impact Assessment Law.[5]​[6]​ For the traditional bocage landscape, the effects are far-reaching. The result of an insensitive concentration is a general clearing of the boundaries, a subdivision designed with criteria analogous to those of an industrial estate, and the generalization of barbed wire fences as a universal closure procedure.[7]​.

Once the concentration has been completed, cascading actions take place aimed at improving land drainage, eliminating obstacles that hinder the mechanization and cultivation of plots, and smoothing access to the farms. At the same time, groundwater levels are declining globally, due to the proliferation of barely controlled extractions for irrigation. As a result, the network of meadows and wetlands is altered by desiccation,[8]​ which paves the way for the conversion of the entire territory into a cultivated area. The streams are rectified, embedding them between crops. The ponds are blinded, or excavated to size using earthen dams. At the same time, forage production is rationalized, and small council meadows lose their economic value as stabling and intensive forage production through irrigation and silage become widespread. Communal grazing becomes extinct at the same time that threshing floors lose their function.[9] Another effect on the landscape is the immediate accessibility to land whose integrity has been maintained thanks to its remoteness or the state of the roads. The tracks enhance (and this is a conscious purpose of the concentration) agricultural investment throughout the municipal territory.[9]​.

Other very common criticisms are: