Association between Property Rights and Tenure Security of Irrigated Lands in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Property rights to land have been long identified as prerequisites to economic development. The rights need to be secure; hence the risk of any loss that might arise through legal context or the possible expropriation is minimized. Formalizing property rights through the issuance of state guaranteed titles is widely debated in recent literature. Scholars discussed that guaranteed property rights to land increase the security in tenure and positively acts on land productivity. Non-secured land rights due to non- availability of valid legal title to land holdings is a rising issue in the low lands of irrigated settlements in Sri Lanka. Irrigated agriculture is considered as one of the principal beneficiaries of public sector investments in agriculture in the country. Absence of secured rights leads to insecurity in land tenure. This study focuses to identify the associated difference between the property rights and the tenure security of irrigated lands in selected settlements in Anuradhapura District of Sri Lanka. The perceptions on property rights were gathered using a structured questionnaire from 935 farmers operating 1230 plots of low lands in Anuradhapura district. The rights were identified under two main categories and the two types of tenure groups were considered. The results reveal that the majority of farmers do not enjoy the full property rights. The chi-square value represents that there is a significant difference between the aggregated property rights and the two types of tenure groups. Measures to ensure property rights in irrigated settlements are required to secure the tenure in irrigated lands. Keywords: Property Rights, Land Tenure, Land Title, Low Lands, Land Settlements