Short answer. Yes, generally. Article 1683 of the Civil Code obligates you, as outgoing lessee, to let the incoming lessee or the lessor use the premises for preparatory labor for the following year. In return, the incoming lessee or lessor must let you finish gathering and harvesting your own fruits, all according to local custom.

What the law says

The outgoing lessee shall allow the incoming lessee or the lessor the use of the premises and other means necessary for the preparatory labor for the following year; and, reciprocally, the incoming lessee or the lessor is under obligation to permit the outgoing lessee to do whatever may be necessary for the gathering or harvesting and utilization of the fruits, all in accordance with the custom of the place.

Civil Code, Article 1683 — Outgoing and Incoming Lessee. Read the full provision →

Why this obligation is reciprocal

Article 1683 sets up a two-way obligation between an outgoing and incoming farm lessee, so that neither side's timeline for the land is treated as absolute at the expense of the other. The outgoing lessee shall allow the incoming lessee or the lessor the use of the premises and other means necessary for the preparatory labor for the following year. This means you generally cannot simply keep the incoming tenant off the land entirely until your lease's formal end date, if that would prevent necessary preparatory work for the next planting cycle.

What you are entitled to in return

The obligation runs both ways: reciprocally, the incoming lessee or the lessor is under obligation to permit the outgoing lessee to do whatever may be necessary for the gathering or harvesting and utilization of the fruits. This means that while you have to accommodate the incoming tenant's preparatory work, you are correspondingly entitled to finish gathering and harvesting your own crops, and to make use of them, without the incoming party interfering with that process during the same transitional period.

Why local custom shapes how this plays out

Article 1683 closes with all in accordance with the custom of the place, which means the article does not fix a precise schedule or specify exactly how much access each side gets. Instead, it defers to how these overlapping farming activities are customarily handled in the particular locality, since agricultural timing and practices vary. What counts as reasonable preparatory access for the incoming tenant, and reasonable harvesting time for the outgoing one, is measured against that local custom rather than a fixed rule the article itself states.

What this means practically as your lease winds down

In practice, this article contemplates some overlap between your remaining time on the land and the incoming tenant's need to begin preparing it, rather than a hard cutoff on the lease's end date. Both of you are expected to accommodate the other's legitimate needs during that transition, consistent with how such arrangements are customarily handled locally, rather than either side being entitled to exclude the other entirely from the land during this shared preparatory and harvesting period.

Related provisions

Note. Statute text quoted on this page is reproduced from the official enactment and is linked to the full provision. The explanation around it is general legal information from Vivas & Nobles Law Office, not legal advice. Whether it applies to your situation depends on facts only a lawyer reviewing them can assess.