The analysis of the declared agricultural land and ecological farming situated in the Krekenava regional park (RP), which is situated in the Middle Lithuania, is presented in the article. The Naujamiestis subdistrict was chosen for the comparison of the use of agricultural lands and ecological farming in the regional park. In 2011, the total agricultural land and crop area declared in the Krekenava Regional Park was 8184.19 ha, i.e. by 317.89 ha or 3.74 percent less than in 2009. 371 family farms were declared, i.e. by 53 farms less in comparison with 2009. In 2009, the declared area of agricultural lands in Naujamiestis subdistrict covered 9877.66 ha and it made up 63.32 percent of the total subdistrict’s area. 359 farmers introduced declarations. The average area of the declared farms was 27.51 ha. In 2011, the declared area of the agricultural lands was 9851.33 ha i.e. smaller than 26.33 ha or 0.27 percent less than in 2009. The number of declared farmers in 2011 was 329, i.e. by 30 farms or 9.12 percent less than in 2009. Ecological farming is relevant to protected areas. The article analyzes the Krekenava RP and Naujamiestis subdistrict’s farms applying ecological farming tools. The analysis of the 2009- 2011 period showed that the declared areas in Krekenava RP have decreased, and the area of farms applying organic measures has increased by 81.69 hectares (nearly 2.5 times). The number of farmers applying organic farming measures in Naujamiestis subdistrict has increased twice and 12 farms i.e., 3.63 per cent of the declared ones had organic farms in 2011, the analyzed area was increased by 581.55 hectares or 3 times.

Cadastral measurements of land parcels are conducted under the guidance of territory planning documents designed by resolutions of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania which in turn regulate the collection of real property cadastral data. However, not always boundaries of the measured land parcels correspond to the documents of territory planning and factual consumption of land. This problem becomes obvious when measuring agricultural land which is most frequently formed in land management schemes during the land reform. The aim of the research is to analyze the correspondence of land parcels after cadastral measurements to the documents of territory planning, identifying discrepancies between line lengths and areas of land parcels. Having investigated the correspondence of agricultural parcels to territory planning documents on the basis of the line lengths designed, it was found that higher line lengths occurred after conducting cadastral measurements. Having identified discrepancies between the areas of agricultural parcels and territory planning documents, one can make an assumption that significant differences could be noticed which manifest inadequacy existing in territory planning documents.

The problem of abandoned agricultural land is relevant in Lithuania, particularly in the territories where poor soils are dominant. The aim of this research is to analyze the statistics of abandoned land in poor soil regions by different estimation methods. The abandoned land was registered for the purposes of the research. Areas might be determined by using statistical data and by applying the results of a distant research method. The initially obtained data showed large differences among the areas of abandoned land determined by different calculation methods, and this might cause a lot of problems, in particular when clarifying the validity of the land taxation. Therefore the initial data of the research concerning abandoned land should be essentially revised. The results of abandoned land accounting and evaluation (inventory) in each territory should be checked and confirmed by the committee of qualified specialists. The reasons of abandonment should be determined for each land plot, and further use of the plot should be determined. Plots of abandoned agricultural land should be estimated for each parcel of the private land and registered in the cadastre data as additional information for estimation of the land tax.

The article presents the research study of the current state and condition of the geodetic base (polygonometric) network for Kaunas city and region as well as the aspects of its compiling. The geodetic base compiled in the post-war years is considered to be of high quality and is used nowadays. The still existing polygonometric network is seldom studied and thus it remains little known. For the purpose of defining the current state of the geodetic base networks, the search for the points in Karmėlava neighbourhood of Kaunas region has been provided. From the total number of 22 points to be searched, five (i.e. 22 percentage) were determined, but only four points (i.e.18 percentage) were appropriate for measurements. The majority of the points has been destroyed during the construction of the residential buildings or roads, or after the reconstruction works. The measurements have been taken by Trimble R6, by RTK method, 10 times for each point. The most reliable value of the measured geodetic points X and Y were defined as well as the errors of the mean square for one measurement and of the average. The results of the survey (100 respondents) showed that the majority of the professionals apply the points of the polygonometric network when making measurements. However, the problems related to a rather rear usage of the network and the aggravated search of the polygonometric points were encountered. A significant part of the professionals suggested the restoration of the polygonometric network.

The aim of the research was to identify the change of abandoned lands in Ūdrija cadastral area of Alytus district. This particular area was selected due to the diversity of land cover objects and because of a good agrarian condition. According to the data of 2010, the cadastral area of Ūdrija had 176 plots of abandoned land with the total area of 61.41 ha. After the verification 179 plots of a land were found, with the total area of 62.84 ha. It can be said that there is a minor increasing tendency of abandoned lands. During field verification as many as 41 mismatches were identified. The mismatch of the data was influenced by two main factors: a two year period between the information of the data set and field verification, as well as errors of the data set. To sum up, the information of verification has changed slightly. It happened because some mismatches were positive (identified new areas of abandoned land), while others were negative (plots of land which were in a set of data were denied during the verification).

Peculiarities of farming land usage in southern Lithuania are analyzed in the article. The analysis of archival data and cartographical material reflecting the structure of farming land in Marijampolė, Šakiai, Kazlų Rūda, Alytus, Lazdijai and Vilkaviškis municipalities was accomplished. Information was taken from yearbooks and archives of public institutions of the Republic of Lithuania and other sources as well. It was determined after analysis of collected information that usage and location of cultivated land greatly depend on the land’s productivity. The largest amount of undeclared farming land is in the districts where the land less favourable for farming is dominant. The analysis of the period of last 10 years has shown that the area of farming land decreased by 753 ha in Lazdijai district and by 194 ha in Vilkaviškis district, but increased by 5.5 ha in Alytus district on average per annum.

The article deals with land consolidation solutions in three rural territories of Latvia, creating perspective monolithic land plots in order to prevent land fragmentation and improve the structure of land properties. Although all three project territories are located in geographically analogical circumstances, established structure of land properties, their infrastructure and location in relation to Riga and other cities and towns prescribes different objectives of land consolidation. The proposed land consolidation methodology could be powerful tool in hands of local municipalities in order to promote development of to rural area in general, agriculture and other sectors.

The main reason of land fragmentation in Latvia was the restitution of ownership rights to former landowners or their heirs, as well as the land acquisition by other persons in the process of the land reform. As a result the ownership structure was obtained which is not competitive in the aspect of production efficiency. Different instruments as land consolidation, land reallotment and others can be applied for the reduction of land fragmentation. The reduction of land fragmentation should play an essential role in the use of the land corresponding to the spatial development plans which determines perspective land use. Therefore the improvement of the ownership structure should be one of the stages of land use planning.

The purpose of this article is to analyse the rural development land use projects for farmstead site selection prepared in the municipality of Elektrėnai during the period between the years of 2012 and 2016, and to determine their potential impact on the growth of built-up areas and the rational use of land. According to the survey data, it can be stated that drafting rates of rural development land use projects for farmstead site selection tend to grow especially in those municipalities that are close to Vilnius and which have a good geographical position as well as a special landscape and national cultural heritage values (Vilnius district, Trakai district and Elektrėnai district municipalities). Having carried out the agricultural land change analysis, it is noted that during the analysis period (2012 - 2016) in Elektrėnai municipality, similarly to the whole Vilnius county, land utilities structure is dominated by agricultural land, mostly arable land, but the significant trend of agricultural land reduction at the expense of the growth of built-up areas was noticed. During the analysed period the built-up areas in the municipality of Elektrėnai increased even by 6 times, and the area of agricultural land declined on average, by almost 2 percent every year. A detailed analysis of specific projects and information gathered during qualitative research suggest that the prepared rural development land use projects for farmstead site selection are not prepared for the improvement of the actual farming activity conditions in constructing farm and other buildings.

Land consolidation – an important stage of agricultural and rural development. This is a significant land use planning process, when private, municipal and state land parcels located in rural areas are redistributed in a complex way, their boundaries and location are changed by the prepared land consolidation project of a certain area. Recently, there has been a lot of talk about the benefits of land consolidation to farm structure and productivity, restructuring of rural areas and development, but there is not enough emphasis on the benefits of our environment, landscape and biodiversity. Experience of European countries shows that the land consolidation projects can be useful not only for farmers, but also for our environment and its individual components. The article gives an overview of not only the positive aspects of environmental preservation. The fact that the land consolidation projects can bring negative results (i.e. that they are implemented without regard to the sustainable transformation of the territory) is noted as well.