Methodology for selection of land consolidation areas

Land consolidation represents the most comprehensive proven instrument of development of agriculture and rural regions. Land consolidation in Serbia has a long tradition, over 1,700,000 hectares of agricultural land has been consolidated in the past. However, there are still large areas of agricultural land, especially in undeveloped parts of Serbia that needs to be consolidated. Since the funds are limited and land consolidation cannot be carried out in all areas in short period of time, there is a need for finding the right mechanisms to choose the areas and municipalities in which the land consolidation will produce the most results and bring the most benefits. This research defines the main steps in process of selection of municipalities for land consolidation. It also defines the selection criteria which were regarded in two major categories. This research was implemented in project 'Rural Development: Effective Land Management' financed by European Union and German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. This project served as case study for implementation of this research.