{"id":8178,"date":"2013-04-02T13:20:46","date_gmt":"2013-04-02T13:20:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/legaldictionary.lawin.org?p=8178"},"modified":"2013-04-02T13:20:46","modified_gmt":"2013-04-02T13:20:46","slug":"agricultural-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lawlegal.eu\/agricultural-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"Agricultural Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Agricultural Policy in Europe<\/h1>\n

Ministry Of Agriculture and Fisheries in Great Britain<\/h2>\n

Created by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Act, 1919 in Great Britain. Formerly the Board of Agriculture.<\/p>\n

Agricultural Community<\/h2>\n

Village and fields<\/h3>\n

Next to Russia, India is the moat important example of the present existence of village communities, although in the manner described by Sir H. Maine (Village Communities, Lect. IV.) their primitive simplicity and essential features were sacrificed for a time at least to alien English and Mohammedan law, the ZEMINDAR or official collector of customary taxes having been converted into a kind of manorial proprietor. In recent years, however, the tendency has been to protect these communities, and over large districts to regard them as the agricultural and fiscal unit. The general features\u2014 allowance being made for differences in climate\u2014 are not unlike those of the Russian mir and the early Teutonic settlements described below.<\/p>\n

There is the division into strips, and the cultivation according to minute customary rules of the arable portion, and there is a certain portion of waste enjoyed as pasture by the different members. The village consists of households, each under a despotic head, the family life being characterised by extraordinary secrecy and isolation. In many communities the customs are declared and interpreted not by a council of elders but by the headman alone, his office being sometimes hereditary and sometimes nominally elective. The various trades or crafts necessary to a self-supporting village are also often hereditary, e.g. the blacksmith, the harness maker, etc.<\/p>\n

In Java a system prevails closely analogous to that of India. The village is jointly responsible for the payment of taxes, and there is common use of the waste. The rice fields are periodically divided amongst the village families and the houses and gardens are private property. Irrigation is conducted according to communal rules and plans (cp. De Laveleye, Primitive Property, ch. iv.) The Allmends of Switzerland furnish another example of common cultivation. These are lands belonging to the communes, the right of use, however, being hereditary in certain families only, and most residents even of long standing and although having political rights, are excluded. The Allmend furnishes wood for fire and building, pasture for cattle on the alp, and a certain portion of arable land. In some cases there is still periodical division of the land, in others the land is let and the proceeds devoted to the expenses of the commune.<\/p>\n

In most of the countries of Europe, where private property has become the rule there are also survivals which point to the wide prevalence of customary cultivation in common.[1]<\/p>\n

Regulation of Agriculture<\/h2>\n

A recent study (Defra 2007) of the admin burdens in European agriculture found that:<\/p>\n