This paper sets out to question the proposition that ‘the creation of viable holdings about a minimum size, sufficient to facilitate the introduction of new technology will enable people to compete and guarantee a possibility of a reasonable standard of living’ and to clarify some of the policy requirements hidden in it. It is intended as a background document and it assembles and summarises existing materials on the fragmentation of paddy land in Sri Lanka, and deals with terminology, causes of fragmentation of paddy, its extent and effects.