Political reactions ‘from below’ to global land grabbing have been vastly more varied and complex than is usually assumed. This essay introduces a collection of ground- breaking studies that discuss responses that range from various types of organized and everyday resistance to demands for incorporation or for better terms of incorporation into land deals. Initiatives ‘from below’ in response to land deals have involved local and transnational alliances and the use of legal and extra-legal methods, and have brought victories and defeats.

Spatial modifications should be introduced in areas where members of the local community actively participate in consolidation projects. Social acceptance is the key prerequisite for successful land consolidation. How should the sequence of land consolidation measures be planned in a rural area whose inhabitants have not expressed their opinions about the project? Are the existing criteria, which are applied to evaluate land consolidation measures mostly in agricultural regions, sufficient?

Land fragmentation is a problem in Europe, and Estonia is not an exception in this respect. Parcel size is widespread characteristic to describe the level of fragmentation. The aim of the study is to find out if there is difference of fragmentation among different groups of landholdings by size. In order to characterise land fragmentation, were calculated the Januszewski and Schmook indexes, average parcel size and average distance from the gravity centre of each landholding to its parcels. Results showed a high level of fragmentation of Estonian agricultural landholdings.

The challenges of achieving both food security and sustainability have resulted in a confluence of demands on land within the European Union: we expect our land to provide food, purify water, sequester carbon, and provide a home to biodiversity and to external nutrients. All soils perform all these five functions, but some soils ‘are better at’ supplying selective functions. Functional Land Management is a framework for policy making aimed at meeting these demands by incentivising soil management and land use practices that selectively augment specific soil functions, where required.

The article presents the analysis of the terms of land administration contained in the texts published in Latvia and the United Kingdom. The aim is to compare the terms used in Latvian texts, their translations in the English language with the terms used in authentic English texts, to identify the most controversial cases and to provide the explanation of the problem arising in working with the English terminology of land administration.

Turkey is homeland of the grapevine (Vitis spp.), one of the most important agricultural products in the World. Our country, having the favorable climatic conditions for viticulture, has an important role among the viticulture farming countries of the World. The objective of this study is to determine potential growing areas of grape in Turkey by using Geographic Information Systems techniques based on topographic and climatic factors. It is important to efficiently use of our limited arable lands from the agricultural point of view.

The condition of the market for of lands of agricultural purpose in modern Russia is analyzed and the complex of actions for economic prerequisites creation for activization of farm land rotation is offered. The state has to undertake urgently measures to increase the control not only over intended use of lands and their involvement in an agricultural rotation, but also over agriculture rationality. The international experience shows the active usage of land resources as pledge. Removal of obstacles of pledge transactions development is also needed in Russia.

The price of agricultural land and arable land is particularly low in Estonia when compared to Western European countries. The demand for agricultural land was low during the first decade after the collapse of the Soviet agriculture system. The situation is changing and the demand for agricultural land is increasing at the present time. Yet, simultaneously, the formation of arable land prices is not studied much. There are several factors affecting land prices and spatial characteristics are among them.

The fragmentation of landholdings is considered as disturbing factor for agriculture. The aim of this article is to evaluate the extent of land fragmentation of the large landholdings in Estonia. The Januszewski and Schmook indexes were calculated for that purpose. The detailed survey of three agricultural landholdings was conducted in order to assess the possibilities to reduce the land fragmentation and improve their land use conditions. Results showed that Estonian agricultural producers’ landholdings are considerably fragmented.

Land resources are not fully exploited for agricultural production in Latvia. According to the Rural Support Service, in 2013 approximately 400 thousands ha of agricultural land were not declared for Single Area Payment Scheme. Increases in bioresources and food production in the world have become objective needs. Exploiting these land resources provides a possibility to increase agricultural output and economic efficiency in Latvia’s rural areas. Yet, agricultural growth in Latvia’s rural areas may not be in contradiction with sustainable development principles.

In agrarian economies like Pakistan, agriculture structure especially, pattern of ownership of land and size distribution are crucial indicator and principal form of wealth and political power. The present study represents an attempt to look in current structure of land holdings, land tenure, and land fragmentation by using Pakistan agriculture census report 2010. Opportunities and challenges faced by small farms in Pakistan are also discussed.

Since 2004, we have witnessed an increased demand in the acquisition of agricultural property, both by individual farmers and entities not previously associated with agriculture. A significant increase in the transaction prices of agricultural real estate in recent years has been caused by the impact of limited agricultural land supply and external factors related to the functioning of Polish agriculture in the economy of the European Community. The value of agricultural real estate is affected by many factors that are taken into account when determining the value of real estate.