비농업인의 농지소유와 ｢농지법｣ 상예외적 농지소유 실태 분석* - 지대별 사례지역 조사를 중심으로 -

Analysis of the Current State of Farmland Ownership by Non-farmers and Exceptional Farmland Ownership under the Farmland Act

While the Constitution and the Farmland Act stress compliance with the land-to-the-tiller principle, in reality the ownership and lease of farmland by non-farmers have expanded, resulting in failure of this fundamental ideology and principle. The Agricultural Area Survey and Agricultural Corporation Survey show that the percentage of farmland owned by farmers plummeted from 67.0% in 1995 to 56.2% in 2015, and that the ratio of leased farms increased from 42.2% to 50.9% over the same period. As of 2015, over half of the total farmland area is being used through leasing arrangements. However, the legitimacy of these leased farms remains unknown, and it is also hard to identify the size of exceptions for non- farmers who happen to own farmland due to inheritance or leaving the farming profession, etc. As a result, it is not easy to specify ways to improve the farmland ownership and use system. This study aims to analyze the current state of ownership and use of farmland and then discuss the major and pending issues pertaining to farmland. First, although there is a farmland register to keep track of current state of ownership and use of farmland, the registration rate is only around 70%, which makes it difficult to find out precise state of ownership and use of farmland. Second, the regional case studies reveal that about two-thirds of the total farmland is not regulated by lease provisions under the Farmland Act. Furthermore, approximately 42% of farmlands affected by lease provisions are illegal, which amount to only 15.5% of the total farmland in the case studies.