Assessment of efficiency of use of agricultural land: example of Samara region

The land stock of the world is 13.4 thousand millions hectares or 26 % of the surface of the Earth. Agricultural land appropriate for food production occupies 4.8 thousand millions hectares; arable land takes up only 1.4 thousand millions hectares or 30 % of the agricultural land. For 100 years, the area of agricultural land increased only by 640 million hectares (less than 15 %), and in recent years it is declining. In Russia, area of the arable land is exploited on average at 70 %, while in the world the arable land has been used on average at 80 %. At present, the urgent problem is to increase the efficiency of use of land resources for stable development of all forms of agricultural enterprises, which have different status of ownership and management. Improvement of the use of natural resources, including land, in the agro-industrial complex is associated with the solution of two interrelated tasks: the development of a methodology for reliable assessment of the resource potential of agricultural land and the search for ways to use them most effectively. The opinions of many researchers about the proposed methods for assessing land resources often are essentially different. This leads to the fact that there are no unified established indicators for determining the efficiency of land use. Nevertheless, in the circumstances of market relations it is relevant and expedient to apply a single scientifically grounded system for assessing agricultural land for organizing its efficient use. The study showed that in Samara region about 72 % of the arable land area is used for production of agricultural products, but it is necessary to find reserves to increase the efficiency of land use. Assessment of the efficiency of agricultural land use in the Samara region, a comparative analysis of the indicators of this region with the indicators of other subjects of the Russian Federation and the country in general created an opportunity to identify features of the use of agricultural land, highlighted problems and factors that determine the effectiveness of its use.