Evaluation of land use and agricultural production in the development area of the major cities of Lithuania

Abstract

Recently, especially big concern is that the consequences of the development of suburban areas are usually manifested by the reduction of productive agricultural land area. Agriculture in Lithuania is very important not only for enshrining agricultural traditions, but for the national economy as well. The tests involved suburban sub-districts bordering the three largest Lithuanian cities (Kaunas, Vilnius, Klaipeda). The study found that in suburban areas the influence of urban development on the use of agrarian land areas was manifested in the fact that they have been suffering from the decrease of agricultural lands, farms and the number of domestic animals more rapidly than in other areas. During the ten-year period in Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipeda districts the area of the used agricultural land decreased by an average of 4.2 percent (throughout Lithuania it increased by 7.2 percent.), the number of farms producing crops decreased by 36.6 percent (in Lithuania – by 32.5 percent), the number of cows kept in farms decreased by 39.6 percent (in Lithuania – by 21.8 percent.). The average area of legally registered agricultural plot of land in Vilnius district is only 2 hectares, in Kaunas district – 2.2 ha, in Klaipeda district – 2.1 hectares. Such kind of fragmentation of the fields and agricultural land plots, the increasing concentration of the population as well as the rapid decrease of agricultural land areas with negative impact on agricultural development potential in these areas occurring due to the decline in urbanization and self-renaturalization of land, determine peculiarities of the use of agrarian landscape features. Therefore, according to the territorial planning documents, the layout of areas used for agricultural activities in these areas and farm land holdings prospective limits formation must be provided for intensive agricultural activities through creating opportunities.