Chile: the balanced view : a recopilation of articles about the Allende years and after

Furthermore. in copper mining, basic production is done in a small number of very important units, whereas in agriculture. production is divided among a great number of smalHarm owners (190,000), 46.000 private. relatively good-sized units, and finally, 5.803 units that were subject to agrarian reform until Aug. 31, 1973. The total number of families living in the reformed area is 70,000. and approximately 500,000 live on farms -a figure that is possibly greater than the available agricultural land can adequately support. For this reason, it is nece'ssary to develop a great number of activities that will keep the active surplus in the rural areas without increasing the current pressure on employmeflt in urban areas. Such activities might include agricultural industries, rural tourism (national parks. country inns, sports such as hunting and fishíng) and lumbering. The top priority problem in agriculture is the reformed area, In fact, as a result of the accelerated expropriation that was carried out by the previous government, the reformed area represents 60 percent of the national irrigated area and 60 percent of the dry arable land available in the country, In the reformed area resources are underused. lands lie idle. and there is an extensive production structure that results in low production indices for the resources. Chart 11-8 of the previous report,) There are many imports, During the agricultural year 1973-1974 a program was drafted to cultivate 434,300 hectares in the reformed area, when a total of 730,000 hectares of irrigated lands was already available, in addition to more than 1.367,000 hectares of dry arable land, Almost 60 percent of the land cultivated in the reformed area was pl.anted with grains or pastures, as compared to the small area occupied by legumes, vegetables, and industrial crops. According to the Technical and Statistical Bulletin published by CORA (Agrarian Reform Corpciration) in December 1972. the area available for farming -1,699 reformed units- represented 19.1 percent of the usable area. Grains occupy 62 percent of this area. Finally. we should add that on Aug. 31.1973, 1,155 (20 percent) of 5,803 expropriated farms had no form of farm worker's organization, despite the large variety of such organiza– tions in existence (for example, settlements, cooperatives. farm workers's committees, centers for agrarian reform, and productioncenters). Of course. for obvious reasons. the productive disorganization of the reformed area -the central objective of the agrarian policíes developed under the previous government– wasrepéated on a national scale and affected the entire agricultural and livestock produc– tion. Thus, statistics reflect a small growth of 1 percent between 1970 and 1971, stagnation during 1972. and an abrupt drop of 17.2 percent in 1972, It is evidentthat a frontal attack on agricultural problems must be begun in the sector showing ¡he greatest weaknesses and difficulties- that is. the reformed area, Under these conditions, technical measures. elimina1ion of the tendency to underuse land. and inten– sive cultivation of crops will be extended to include the private sector, as a consequence of a general policy that will give results in a relatively short time. Of coursé. thanks to efforts during the last three months. it is expected tha! results for the agricultural year 1973-74 wi 11 improve by 13,9 percent over 1972-73. based on current plantings and the condition of the crops. despite the urgency with which some inputs are needed, The fundamental measures of agradan po Ii cy that must be kept in mind include a) Land tenure. . i) In the reformed area a change will gradually take place in the direction of individual ownership. Not alllandholdings are easily divisible, Therefore, where division is effected over a longer periodo the holdings will be worked as partnerships with shares entitling their holders to actual property rights in proportion to the shares they hold, once the land has been divided on a technical basis. Properties that cannot be materially divided will continue to be worked by cooperatives. ii) Absolute guarantee against expropriation for agrarian reform wi 11 be granted to plots of 40 or fewer basic hectares of irrigated land that are held by theír actual owners, and absoluta guarantee of the right to a reserve in all farms against which legal expropriation proceedings have not been completed. !34