Agricultural land: concept, composition, use

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

All land in our country is divided into agricultural and non-agricultural. Depending on climatic conditions, method of use and quality condition, subspecies of these two groups are also distinguished.

Definition

What is farmland? The definition of this concept is quite specific (as opposed to categories). Agricultural land refers to land intended for growing crops, raising livestock and performing related work. Each such site has closed boundaries and a specific location.

The following groups of plots belong to agricultural lands: arable land, pastures, hayfields, perennial plantations, fallow. One subspecies in the process of doing business can pass into another. But this happens very rarely.

Arable land, fallow land and perennial plantings

Most of the agricultural land is plots intended for sowing cultivated plants. Such allotments belong to arable land. But only ifif they are systematically processed. In addition to fields with cultivated plants, this group includes crops of perennial grasses in crop rotation areas, hatcher fields and pure fallows. The total area of all arable land on the Earth today is about 1.3 billion hectares. This is about 3% of the land surface. The total area of agricultural land in Russia is 2434.6 thousand hectares. At the same time, arable land accounts for 60% of all land.

Under the definition of "fallow" are areas that were previously plowed, but not used for growing plants for more than a year, and also not prepared for fallow. Perennial plantations are lands artificially planted with trees, shrubs and perennial grasses. This group includes, for example, berries, orchards, vineyards, hops, tea plantations, etc.

Hayfields and pastures

Agricultural plots can be used not only in crop production, but also in animal husbandry. So, hayfields include those allotments on which perennial grasses grow. The main purpose of this type of lands is to feed livestock cut on them with vegetation in the winter. Such lands, in turn, are classified into several more groups. On a qualitative basis, hayfields are distinguished:

1. Clean. On such lands there are no bumps, stumps, large stones, trees and shrubs. Mowing on plots of this type can be done with maximum efficiency.
2. Small. This group includes areas covered with bumps by at least 10%.
3. Forested and bushy. Such areas in our territorycountries are not uncommon. Lands covered with trees and shrubs by 10-70% are referred to this group. Mowing these areas is difficult and time consuming.

Fodder lands overgrown with forests and shrubs in Russia number about 10 million hectares, and overgrown - about 2.2 million hectares.

Depending on the degree of moisture, such agricultural land is classified into:

• jellied;
• upland;
• waterlogged.

Improved areas are additionally allocated from the first two groups.

Pastures are lands intended for grazing during the warm season, not related to hayfields or fallows. There are only two types of such areas: swampy and dry valleys. The latter are usually located in the floodplains of rivers and streams and are flooded during the spring flood for a short time. Wetland pastures are located in lowlands, on the fringes of marshes and in poorly drained areas.

Dry land plots are divided into long-term cultivated and improved. Like hayfields, pastures can be classified by quality. In this regard, clear, zakochkarenny and forested areas are distinguished. Unfortunately, there are quite a lot of not very high-quality lands of this group in our country. However, if agricultural enterprises have funds and well-designed management projects, the situation can be improved.

Land Code of the Russian Federation No.78-Ф3

The use of agricultural land is regulated by the state. When performing various kinds of work in such areas, they are primarily guided by Federal Law No. 78-F3 “On Land Management”, adopted in 2001. The plots of the considered group belong to the category of agricultural land. Also included:

• land occupied by on-farm communications and roads;
• protective forest belts;
• lands with enclosed water bodies;
• areas occupied by various kinds of facilities intended for storage or primary processing of agricultural products.

The use of agricultural land is regulated by the Land Code of the Russian Federation. This law defines the subjects of rights to plots, the legal regime of farming and the rights of citizens engaged in horticulture, horticulture or livestock rearing on private farmsteads.

Transfer to other categories

Agricultural land is subject to special protection by law. Such lands are transferred to other categories only in exceptional cases. The transfer can only be made if necessary:

• fulfillment of international obligations;
• development of mineral deposits;
• ensuring the security of the state;
• maintenance of cultural heritage.

Highly Valuable Sites

According to quality, the existing agricultural land in Russia can be classified into:

• Plots with a cadastral valuation above the regional average.
• Particularly valuable in this region.
• Disturbed lands.

Especially valuable agricultural lands, which, among other things, may include experimental plots of scientific and educational organizations, are often included in the list of lands, the use of which for purposes other than agricultural, is not allowed.

Cost-Efficiency of Use

The quality of agricultural land can therefore vary. Compare the value of specific sites relative to each other allows economic evaluation. It can be general, produced on the basis of a comparison of costs and benefits across the totality of crops grown, or private. In the latter case, the degree of efficiency of cultivation of specific varieties of agricultural plants is determined. Such an assessment can be made when planning and distributing production or identifying specific results of enterprises.

The efficiency of agricultural land use in this or that case is determined by the system of cost and natural indicators. The main ones are:

• gross output value and net income;
• productivity c/ha;
• return on investment in land;
• profitability of the agricultural enterprise.

Sometimes, comparison of specific gravity is also used as additional indicatorscommon farmland, arable land and crops.

Most often, the efficiency of land use is checked by appraisal. It is calculated according to a set of yield indicators for the last 3-5 years. Also count:

• share of differentiated income;
• production costs;
• gross output;
• land quality, etc.

Sustainability

The purpose of land used in agriculture can be different. But in any case, the main indicator of their quality is fertility. Rational use of land is such a use in which it is possible to obtain maximum yields without reducing this indicator. The legislation currently in force in Russia provides for economic incentives for land users, landowners and tenants to use such farming methods, in which the fertility of the plots not only does not decrease, but also increases in every possible way.

In addition to deteriorating the composition and structure of the land, irrational use can lead to pollution and flooding. In order to avoid soil degradation, first of all, one should observe crop rotation, competently use heavy equipment (to avoid over-compacting the land), apply mineral fertilizers only in the right quantities and on time, liming if necessary, etc.

Geography of farmland in Russia

Slash-and-burn agriculture in the zone of mixed forests in our country has already developedby the beginning of the 6th century. In the 14th-15th centuries, it was replaced by steam. In the 18th century in central Russia, the stage of continuous land development began. A little later, the zone of agricultural land spread into the middle and northern taiga. By the 20th century, land development was largely complete. The picture of the geography of the land that developed in the last century has practically not changed to this day. The only exception is the development of virgin lands. To date, about 50% of all arable land is in the European part of Russia, 30% - in the South Urals and 20% - in the south of Siberia.