AGRICULTURAL LAND PROTECTION AS A BASIS OF SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT IN THE DRY STEPPES OF ALTAI KRAI

Abstract

Sustainable development of the entire biogeocoenosis area is considered a driving factor in ensuring agricultural land protection. The balance between the use of ecosystems, their anthropogenic transformation, and protection should be based on optimizing the use of the natural environment. Anthropogenic activity in agriculture is conducted within the boundaries of the formed landscapes that are subsequently transformed into agricultural landscapes. Agricultural landscapes, in turn, are not resistant to external and internal factors and, thus, need protection. More than 80% of agricultural land in Altai Krai subject to varying degrees of degradation need sustainable development. The nutrient inputs recommended by the regional agrochemical service have not been observed over the past 25 years of farming in rural areas. Moreover, there are no projects for organizing the plots of agricultural enterprises taking into account the landscape specifics. Unfortunately, there are no sufficient conditions for organizing organic land use. Adaptive landscape land management can serve as a basis for the protection of agricultural land and a viable mechanism for the sustainable development of agricultural land use. Based on the example of agricultural landscapes located in the arid steppes of Altai Krai, we revealed the trends of sustainable development of agricultural land use. At the first stage, we evaluated the agro-ecological role of the physical and geographical conditions of the territory and the state of agricultural landscapes. At the second stage, we carried out agro-ecological zoning of the research object. Finally, at the third stage, we proposed ways to optimize and protect agricultural land in the arid steppe.