Land reforms: consolidation not redistribution

Political parties are hunting for populist rhetoric these days. The latest is a bill from the MQM, urging for the imposition of land reforms across the country. But is mere redistribution of land enough, and to what extent can the efficacy of such reforms last, is the real question.
The sub-continent was introduced to a system of landlords and the land tenure system during the British rule whereby rent-seeking zamindars (landlords) thrived as property rights were tailored in their favour.
Cascaded into Pakistan after its creation, irregular landownership still plagues the social and economic prosperity of the country, even though attempts were made to introduce land reforms in 1959 and 1972, which failed because they were focused on individual rather than family land holdings.
Ironically, introduction of technology at a very early stage of Pakistan's agriculture sector also led to the creation of capitalist farming. Tractors and High-Yielding-Variety (HYV) seeds gave greater marginal benefit on large landholdings, and were financially feasible only for the affluent, landlords lost further incentive to practice land redistribution.
The need, interestingly, therefore, is of land consolidation rather than land distribution since mechanization and fragmentation do not go hand in hand in the agriculture sector. And since greater cooperation amongst small landowners can prove to be a hard sell, the key word should be corporatization rather than cooperation.
Corporatization of land, allotted into tradable titles, means owners of small landholdings can trade their titled land holdings with bigger landlords who can practice mechanization more efficiently in large landholdings. Property rights must be transparent and strictly enforced.
As a consequence, small landholders will move to urban centres where opportunities for their growth and employment avenues should be provided. This will yield a win-win situation for both the counterparts.
Yet, the rural areas have to be facilitated with a strong local body system where documentation and taxation are rigidly enforced.
Jehangir Tareen, a parliamentarian and former federal minister, has been following this model of corporatization, which can be simulated by other landlords, including those in the parliament.
Emancipation of small farmers requires the government to also encourage the provision of education and health benefits, labour and human rights, and suitable wage payments for those landless peasants who continue to work in rural areas.
Greater awareness amongst farmers with respect to their rights has to be encouraged while providing them proper channels for financial and institutional support for agricultural processes at the same time.
The call here is not for more equitable land distribution, but for a more rational consolidation. While land redistribution might have worked in 1948 for India, mechanization is the order of the day for greater agricultural output.
As for the passing of MQMs land reform bill, perhaps the tide of rhetoric should have been different given the changed agricultural requirements.