A new approach to determine parcel index for land consolidation studies: A case study in Aksu River

The success and timely completion of the land consolidation project depends on the land rating, one of the most important stages of consolidation projects, which should be fair and acceptable by landowners. In many countries of the world, various methods have been developed and put into practice for the purpose of land rating. In our country, the rating maps are determined according to the soil index, productivity or existence score and location index values. However, as this method is superficial and not detailed, it necessitates the development of a new and more comprehensive method. In this study, it was aimed to develop a new and more detailed equation in accordance with the international criteria and taking into account the geographical, physical, cultural and socio-economic characteristics of the region where the land is consolidated to compute classified and unclassified parcel index used in the formation of the rating maps. In addition, the effects of proportions of the parameters used in the equations on parcel index, deduction rate and amounts as well as progress payment amounts are also investigated. Three different districts were chosen in the Aksu river lands in Antalya where land consolidation is in practice. The districts used as material are Çatallar district in the upper zone, Abdurrahmanlar district in the middle zone and Solak district in the lower zone. As a result of the study, it has been determined that new equation calculated the parcel index in more detail than the current equation. The equation where soil index is 30% and land quality index is 70% is advantageous in terms of the parcel index and the deduction rate in all the districts, while the equation, where the percentages of soil index and land quality index are equal, is advantageous in terms of the amount of deduction and the progress payment amounts. Equation which has 50% of soil index is determined as the most advantageous equation in the study because soil is an important parameter in equation. As a result, this study has given a new perspective to the land consolidation studies in our country in terms of the system and method and proposed a new method by evaluating the missing aspects of existing methods.