This is part of its drive to assist farmers develop agricultural infrastructure in rural areas.
The department spent R200m on the land acquisition, it said.
But the department remains at odds with the sector because of its land acquisition and reform policies.
A proposed cap on land owned by foreign nationals in SA and the Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land Framework Bill, which allows the agriculture and fisheries minister to expropriate farm land not used optimally, have raised concerns.
The department is also going to embark on a pilot programme for its 50/50 policy, which it adopted to empower people working on land they do not own. The pilot project is expected to target 50 sites in 2015-2019.
Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti said the department would gauge the feasibility of its 50/50 policy proposal through a pilot programme. The minister was replying to a parliamentary question.
"The pilots will be carefully selected using a set criteria ... The sites will be monitored ... to draw lessons for the further improvements or changes to the policy," Mr Nkwinti said.
The department expected its land-allocation drive to provide 2,193 permanent jobs through farm re-capitalisation.
More than 5,000 applicants are expected to benefit.
But organised agriculture associations have expressed misgivings about the department’s policies.
Agri SA spokesman Kosie van Zyl said the bill was overdue, but the organisation was concerned about whether it took all accepted farming practices into account.
"The ownership and custodianship clauses have some issues, as well as section 54, which says if land lies fallow for more than three years it can be expropriated for below the market price.
"Sometimes it is a farming practice to have it lie fallow for a few years," Mr van Zyl said.
Democratic Alliance spokesman on rural development and land reform Thomas Walters said the party had opposed the adoption of all programmes in Parliament’s portfolio committee because the committee had not discussed this and other important matters in land reform.
