The operation of the land fund involves the creation of favorable conditions for the production of agricultural products. However, to achieve high economic efficiency in this area is impossible without a careful calculation of the costs of energy, power and natural resources. The key to maintaining sufficient production indicators in this area without harming nature is the concept of rational use of land, the need for which over time becomes more and more obvious.
The concept of rational land use
To begin with, there is no general universal idea of the technology of rational exploitation of the land fund, which would fit into the requirements from different points of view on the process of using this resource. After all, there are agro-technical, economic, environmental, legal and other aspects of understanding this issue, although in each case there are similar motives and even means to achieve the objectives. The central concept of the rational use of land will still be expressed through the production process - the achievement of the goals of agricultural activity with the maximum economic effect, but within the framework of optimal interaction with factors of natural properties. That is, it is obvious that, in some way, the balance of land use regulation is ensured by two conflicting factors of resource exploitation - production and environmental.
Does it mean that rationalization is directly related to the search and development of methods for optimal agricultural activities, taking into account a whole range of operational factors? Of course, but not in every case it is appropriate to talk about this concept as a decrease in the effectiveness of land management. The rational use of land is not only an orientation towards the restraining requirements of environmental conservation. To a large extent, these are the principles of effective soil cultivation, an initially more accurate calculation in choosing the purpose of a specific land use strategy, determining the most energy-efficient cultivation methods, etc.
Land Functions
In addition to the fact that the exploited land fund is the main production tool of agriculture, it is also responsible for global biogeocenotic and environmental functions that determine the normal processes of biocenosis, that is, living space. The soil cover is saturated with vital elements, thanks to which, in principle, living tissues are formed on land. And although the total land area is three times smaller than the oceans, the biomass of terrestrial ecosystems is many times greater than the biomass of the aquatic environment. From the point of view of rational use of agricultural land, it is important that the soil provides the life cycles of most plants. Due to the substances and trace elements that are contained in the fertile layer, the development of the root system occurs. The earth also performs important functions of protecting a wide variety of microorganisms - bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, algae, nematodes, arthropods, etc. Of course, not all of them are useful for crops, but they are also part of biodiversity, due to which soil a wide range of characteristics necessary for biocenosis.
Land management features
Rational land use is impossible without taking into account the resource management functions. The most significant management functions in relation to the land fund include the following:
- Organization and implementation of land management with the formation of a cadastre of real estate.
- Provision of land to legal entities and individuals for economic activities.
- Land monitoring. It is also carried out with the aim of developing a plan for the rational use of forests and arable land, taking into account specific operating conditions.
- Protection of property rights to land property with the right to use it.
- Planning strategies for the rational use and protection of land.
- Fiscal activities associated with the exploitation of land resources.
- Legal support for the protection and use of land.
- State control over the use and protection of land.
- Settlement of land management disputes.
Objects and subjects of the processes of rational land use
To understand the principles of rationalizing the use of land, it is also necessary to identify the participants in the operation. The objects can be attributed directly to agricultural land, including hayfields, arable lands, pastures, green spaces, etc. In relation to such objects, a strategy for the rational use of agricultural land is developed, and the subjects in this case are ordinary citizens and organizations with municipalities. The nature of the relationship of objects and subjects of land use largely determines the factors that affect the possibility of rationalization:
- Applicable systems and processing methods.
- Technical tools (agricultural implements).
- Human factor.
- Compliance with environmental regulations.
Of course, ensuring the rational use of land is impossible without taking into account external factors. They are independent and not controlled by the subjects of land use relations, but also exert their influence from outside:
- Land policy of the state.
- Agroclimatic factors.
- Socio-psychological local factors.
- Economic conditions.
Statement of the problem of land use
The desire to improve the efficiency of the use of natural resources to different degrees has always characterized the agricultural activity of mankind. Under the conditions of scientific and technological progress, emphasis on changes in the tactics of the land fund exploitation is made on rationalization, which is explained by an increase in consumer demand for food products against the background of continuing production conditions in the agricultural sector. Despite the emergence of increasingly advanced technical means and methods of cultivating the soil and increasing its fertile potential, without rational use of the land, the tasks of maintaining resources at the proper level cannot be fulfilled. Therefore, modern concepts of the use of the land fund are guided both by its conservation, and by increasing its potential fertility (if possible by natural means).
Land Use Assessment Criteria
Despite the volume of the concept, the rationalization of land exploitation can be reflected in specific parameters - quantitative and qualitative. The first group of evaluation criteria include economic indicators. In this case, rationalization is ensured not only by reducing the fields used, but also by optimizing organizational and technical measures. This applies to agricultural implements, engineering and technical infrastructure, and transport and logistics models that are used in the use of agricultural land. The rational use of soil cultivation, for example, is beneficial not only because of the reduction in the finances spent. To a large extent, minimizing the influence of technology on the fertile layer allows you to maintain the structure of humus, reduces the risks of soil erosion, and also creates the conditions for a favorable temperature and humidity balance of the earth.
In turn, the qualitative criteria for rational land use are expressed in maintaining a sufficient level of production indicators. Nevertheless, the main goal of agricultural activity is the production of certain products, and a decrease in these parameters makes the exploitation of land in principle unprofitable for humans. How is the rational use of land evaluated in terms of a qualitative criterion? The characteristics of the soil cover, in particular, the agrophysical properties and particle size distribution, are taken into account. Specifically, the state of the earth as a platform for the production of crops can be said by such parameters as density, stickiness, porosity, plasticity. This set of indicators will help to more accurately determine the methods of technical preparation of the soil, and its composition with specific trace elements and temperature and humidity indicators will tell you which plants can be grown under these conditions.
Principles of land management
The processes of achieving rationalization by certain methods often conflict with the basic goals of this concept. To prevent such discrepancies, it is necessary to adhere to the following principles of rational land use:
- Reducing the negative effects of agricultural production.
- Stimulation of the natural functioning of the biosphere.
- Monitoring soil conditions. Along with monitoring the current indicators of the fertile layer, rational organization of land use involves the study of resources at a more global level with the identification of general trends in changes in the geotechnical structure of the natural massif.
- Improvement and modernization of agricultural production technology in order to minimize expended resources and reduce harmful mergers on the land layer.
- Restoration of the original properties of the land fund. And as a result of the influence of natural processes, and under the influence of technogenic conditions, the natural characteristics of the resource can be violated. Ultimately, such changes entail the need to use methods of restoration, anti-erosion protection, reproduction of forests, the establishment of hydrological objects, etc.
Land Management Planning
There are no universally suitable methods and technologies for ensuring rational land use. In each case, at the planning stage, certain approaches are selected that will allow you to achieve your goals. What is meant by developing a plan in this case? This is the organization of land management and control within a specific municipal and agricultural facility, based on a specific set of applicable technical means and rules. In the course of planning the rational use of land, the following work is carried out:
- Zoning of land according to natural and agricultural characteristics.
- Consideration of prepared proposals for rational land use.
- Land tenure. Definition of land (land surveying).
- Definition of land funds for inclusion in special registers.
Planning is also impossible without preliminary studies of the territory on which it is planned to create land funds. From this point of view, for the rational organization of land use the following data will be important:
- Mass land valuations for agricultural characteristics.
- Geodetic, cartographic and hydrological data on the area.
- Latest land monitoring information (if available).
These data will help planners initially competently make the distribution of sites, depending on their operational potential. In the future, taking into account the external conditions of land use, a strategy for the rational use of land will be developed, the initial data for which will also be the economic and technological capabilities of the owner.
Directions for ensuring rational land use
The implementation of measures and principles of rational exploitation of land funds is almost always implemented in several directions. Only a comprehensive change in approaches to the use of natural resources can achieve high positive results. The main ways of rational use of land include the following:
- Human factor. Perhaps the most influential factor through which both favorable and negative impacts on land use processes are exerted. Positive regulatory measures with a focus on optimizing tillage systems include the introduction of hay-pasture rotation, the revival of saiylyks (summers), the implementation of cultural operations in degraded areas, and the reduction of pollution of the fertile layer by agricultural waste.
- Manufacturing process. Technologies for mechanical processing of the soil are actively developing in ergonomic, functional and power characteristics. However, increasing the technical efficiency of soil cultivation tools does not always fit into the norms of balanced maintenance of soil fertility. Therefore, the traditional processing methods are being replaced by optimized concepts for preparing the land for planting. The technology of zero tillage measures involves, for example, combining several work operations in one technological process.
- Agroclimatic conditions. Indicators of moisture and thermal effects on the land also determine their fertility and suitability for machining. Therefore, in terms of agroclimatic impact, measures are being developed for the rational use of land, the purpose of which is to ensure the optimal temperature and humidity balance. The most common set of techniques in this area can be called reclamation work.
Land conservation as a principle of rational land use
State regulation of land policy also plays a significant role in the legal support of the rules for the rational use of agricultural territories. Of key importance from this position are the rules of land protection. This is a whole complex of not only legal, but also technical instruments aimed at reducing the harmful effects on the fertile layer by industrial enterprises, transport, mining enterprises, engineering structures, etc. How is the rational use and protection of land organized in practice? It all starts with the already mentioned planning, which provides for the safe location of agricultural facilities, in terms of proximity to pollution sources in particular. In the future, legal norms are in force that exclude the construction of the same industrial and engineering enterprises in a certain radius with respect to the used land funds. Another area of land protection involves the implementation of a wide range of remediation and restoration measures.
Conclusion
In the process of evolutionary development, the soil-plant ecosystem has acquired a number of abilities to produce unique natural substances, proteins and amino acids, without which the nutrition of plant formations can not do. But this is far from the only reason why the practice of rational use of land is being introduced in order to preserve its basic functions. The soil layer is not just an agricultural tool. This is also the most important factor in environmental gas-atmospheric regulation, during which processes of oxygen emission, photosynthesis, and the return of part of carbon dioxide to the upper atmospheric layers occur. Only the aforementioned functions of the earth give all grounds for concluding that it is ecologically multifunctional, without which the risk of disturbing the ecological balance on the planet increases.