After the father dies his land is distributed amongst the sons. This distribution of land does not entail a collection or consolidated one, but its nature is fragmented. This is due to the fact that tract vary in fertility. If there are six tracts which are to be distributed among three sons, all of them will get smaller plots of each land tract, and in this way the inheritance of land goes on and with the fragmentation of land holdings becomes more acute.
 The important cause of the low productivity of land and of the backwardness of agriculture all round is to be found in the excessive sub- division and fragmentation of holdings in many parts of the country. Sub-division and fragmentation have made cultivation more costly. The practice is very wasteful in the sense that the farmer cannot concentrate all his attention and energies at one particular place. According to Turner, "disadvantages are obvious. The nearer fields are apt to be overworked and the remote ones neglected. It involves waste of labour in moving manure, implements, cattle and water to a distance, waste of land in providing boundaries and waste of time in going to and fro between the fields. It facilitates damage by theft and cattle trespass; makes the use of labour saving difficult; and it restrains cultivators from attempting improvements." He cannot provide proper manuring to the fields. No irrigation is possible in such fragmented holdings. Sometimes it leads to litigation and wastes the farmer's hard earned money. No preventive measures can be taken against the pests and locust menace. The only solution of this problem is the consolidation of holdings. This can be done through co-operative societies. But the Indian farmer is a great ancestor-worshipper. He cannot abandon the land inherited to him by his forefathers. So the final solution is the enactment of legislation. A certain limit should be fixed by the government beyond which no fragmentation should take place. Progress has been made in the consolidation of holding in M.P., Maharashtra, U.P. and Rajasthan. The work is almost completed in Haryana and Punjab. The average size of a holding for the whole India is 3.0 hectares, but this varies from state to state Assam 2.12, Bihar 1.64, M.P. 5.56, Tamil Nadu 3.88, Orissa 2.44, Punjab 4.72, U.P. 2.12, W. Bengal 1.88 hectares. The size of holding in Kashmir is 11.52 hec., Kerala 9.6 hec., Mysore 2.88 hec., and in Rajasthan 6.66 hectares.