An Investigation into Agricultural Land Acquisition: A Case Study of Palawan

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the correlates of hectarage accumulation of public agricultural land (homestead) from a set of demographic variables such as age, sex, household size, location, and period of cultivation before the settlers are granted land, It also looks into the constraints imposed by institutional factors. The study covers the homestead grant of public agricultural land in Palawan for 1975. The sample size is 85 households, representing fifty per cent of the population.The results show that the age of the settler is positively associated withh ectarage accumulation. Contrary to expectations, females accumulated more land than males do; this could probably be attributed to the institutional setup and predominantly malesample size. Also, the larger the size of the household, the greater is the hectarage accumulated. The period of cultivation before the settlers are formally granted land has a positive relationship with hectarage. Lastly, distance was also shown to affect the hectarage demanded such that the farther the place from the central developed regions, the higher the hectarage accumulated by the settlers.