The government has identified the signs of unused agricultural land
Now only in Central Russia about half of the entire agricultural land is not used. But now the issue of their withdrawal will be resolved faster and easier. The government has clearly defined the signs of unused agricultural land. Their active introduction into circulation will provide new jobs for rural residents, increase tax revenues to the budget and significantly increase the production of agricultural products.
New signs of unused land plots were approved by the government on September 18, 2020. Compared to the previous ones from 2012, the new ones contain clearer and more stringent definitions. So, before, a plot was considered unused if no work was done on the cultivation of crops and tillage. And now, even if there is no agricultural activity on an area of up to a quarter of the site, it will still be considered unused.
In addition, the presence of weeds overgrowing on half (or more) of the area, and more than 20% on especially valuable productive agricultural lands will be considered signs of unused land. Violations of the law will be the presence on the land plot of a building that has signs of unauthorized people; pollution of a land plot with chemicals; littering of a land plot on an area of 20 percent or more, and much more.
As of the beginning of last year, Rosreestr estimated the total area of agricultural land at 382,5 million hectares, including agricultural land - 197,7 million hectares, according to the state report on the state and use of land in Russia in 2018. At the same time, according to various estimates, unused agricultural land in Russia is from 40 to 80 million hectares.
In Central Russia - Smolensk, Tver, Vologda, Yaroslavl, Kirov regions - up to half of the arable land is not used, counts Vladimir Plotnikov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Agrarian Committee. “It is a state task - to make the land work - give a crop, provide the village with additional jobs, and the budget with taxes,” he said.
Until 2030, the state plans to put into circulation 12 million hectares of land. As Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko explained earlier, for this it is necessary to carry out a large-scale inventory of land, to identify specific land plots most suitable for agriculture. Together with other measures, this will help fulfill the goal of almost doubling the production and export of agricultural products by 2024 - to $ 45 billion.
In 2019, the country's self-sufficiency in grain, fish and fish products exceeded the indicators of the food security doctrine by one and a half times, Victoria Abramchenko recalled. She also noted that Russia has achieved food security values in almost all key areas.
A further increase in the production of agricultural products in the country is necessary, first of all, to consolidate Russia's position in the world food market. This will allow the state to regulate the food situation inside the country. Even if an emergency arises (weather anomalies, coronavirus, etc.), the state will always have the opportunity to "pinch off" the missing amount of food from supplies abroad. Thus, a food shortage in Russia will not be possible under any circumstances.
And the government decree is part of this job. A clearer definition of the signs of unused agricultural land will allow us to start solving the next stage of the problem - the withdrawal of unused agricultural land, Vladimir Plotnikov is sure. In his opinion, due to vague wordings, the law on land acquisition did not work until that moment.
“There are people and there is land, but we cannot take it, because at the time of privatization in the 90s some 'enterprising' people invested money in land as a deposit. And now they are waiting when they will be able to enrich themselves in a speculative way, ”the deputy categorically said.
In his opinion, the amount of unused land has only increased since the beginning of the land reform in the 1990s. Then the land was bought at bargain prices in order to sell it later. As a result, it is either not used at all, or is not used at all for agriculture, explains Plotnikov. In confirmation, he cites data from Rosstat: in 1990, 116 million hectares were sown, and in 2020 (even taking into account the increase) a little more than 80 million hectares.
Therefore, Plotnikov believes that it is necessary to work harder to bring unused agricultural land into circulation. So, in his opinion, it would be fair, among other things, to introduce an increased tax on land if it is not used - five to ten times more. This will encourage owners to either cultivate the land or sell.
He also believes that the introduction of land into circulation could partly remove the problem of fires, which has become colossal in recent years. “Burian burns perfectly. If the land was sown, there would be no problems, ”he explains.
Meanwhile, Natalya Shagaida, director of the Center for Agri-Food Policy of the Institute for Applied Economic Research, RANEPA, believes that there is no unused land where it is in demand. They are not used only in those regions where these lands will not bring any profit to agribusiness. In this sense, it is more expedient for the state to act not with the help of punitive measures, but rather according to the declarative principle, she said. If a person discovers an abandoned site somewhere in the areas in demand, he can contact the appropriate authorities to find the owner and, if necessary, withdraw him for agricultural production. And everywhere to introduce control over unused agricultural land, according to the expert, there is no special sense. And it is not always possible to find the owners of the plots, adds Shagaida.
She recalls that during the 2016 agricultural census, agricultural producers were found, to whom 142,7 million hectares of farmland out of 193 million hectares were assigned. Almost 50 million hectares were “lost”. Of those lands that were assigned to the producers found during the agricultural census, 125 million hectares were used. That is, about 18 million hectares have not been used yet.
“The task of putting agricultural land into circulation was set by the President. And we are quite capable of dealing with this and putting things in order, ”Vladimir Plotnikov, in turn, is sure.