BRIEFS. agriculture

Pronat inventories farms without land titles

According to a recent inventory of farmland in and around the capital, it was found that less than half of them are entitled with the land registry. The study conducted by the Programa Nacional de Administración de Tierras (Pronat) indicated that only about 56.9%, or 280,000 of the estimated 650,000 farms, are officially titled.

Fieldwork began last week in the six municipalities of Colón, San Miguelito, Panamá, Arraiján, Chorrera and Capira after working for five years in rural areas.

Pronat´s technical coordinator, Rolando Armuelles, said that "the number of property titles pending in rural areas had decreased by 50% (from 70% in 2001); whereas in urban areas, the average rate of titling and farms without titles are more or less the same, but the number of titles overall is higher in proportion."

Pronat´s study is aimed at modernizing the system of land administration and reducing registration costs. It hopes to grant titles to the remaining farms within the period before the next inventory.