Princips and criteria of evaluation of drained land

Abstract

Land reclamation practice is of great importance for the Lithuanian agriculture. Land use potential and its value much depend on the functional stability of land reclamation structures. Recent land evaluation system does not correspond to new economic principles and thus does not fully reflect the real land reclamation condition. The investigations on the peculiarities of changes in the value of agricultural land in respect of the variation in land reclamation conditions were carried out in Water Management Institute of the Lithuanian University of Agriculture in 2002-2005. The aim of the studies was to suggest new evaluation criteria of drained land. The studies were based on the analysis of land valuation methods and mathematical estimation of relations between land reclamation conditions and agricultural land value. The paper analyses natural, technical and economic factors determining the value of drained land, i.e. the effect of draining on soil capability, the dependence of drainage systems reliability on their lifetime under different operation conditions, also the territorial distribution of land reclamation structures and economical indices. It has been determined that the evaluation of drained land is to be based on zonal principles because the selected territories are distinct for their typical values of evaluation criteria. Common evaluation of a drained land is a function of correction coefficients that integrate the main factors determining land value.