The ownership of land provides incentives to the tiller of the land to invest in making improvements, provided sufficient capital is made available to them. They take more interest since they make profit from the increased output which is not shared by anyone.
The importance of ownership in providing incentives to farmers is illustrated by the carelessness with which farmers in the former Soviet Union used to pack fruits for sale. Rotten fruits were packed along with fresh fruits in the same box since it did not affect them if the goods were not sold.
In the absence of ownership, there was no incentive for the farmers to be efficient. This was reflected in the poor performance of the agricultural sector in the Soviet Union.