Agricultural land (SHN) is the basis for the production of basic types of food, animal feed and raw materials for individual industries. Therefore, a special regime of use has been established for them, designed to ensure protection, increase the level of fertility, and also prevent their withdrawal from circulation.
Types of agricultural land
The legislator in the Land Code of the Russian Federation and the Federal Law "On the Turnover of Agricultural Land" No. 101-FZ identifies the following types of land as part of the territories intended for farming:
1. Agricultural land is a land of high value, having priority for the state and subject to special protection. They are a means of producing basic types of food. Additionally, these valuable territories are distinguished by particularly valuable and productive areas that provide an additional degree of protection.
2. Non-agricultural ( service ) land - plots on the surface of which there are objects ( natural, artificial ) used in agriculture and the maintenance of surrounding land.
Correspondingly, sections of SCN can be simple and complex. In the first case, they consist of one type of territory, which may have equal or heterogeneous quality and degree of use. And complex, in turn, consist of both agricultural and “service” land in different percentages.
According to the National Land Fund, the area of agricultural land in Russia is 195.6 million ha, and the territory for servicing agricultural land is 207.6 million ha.
Farmland concept
According to the “List of land accounting terminology” approved by the Ministry of Agriculture of the USSR on July 21, 1970, agricultural land is a land plot used in agriculture as the main means of production: arable land, fallow lands, perennial plantings ( without forest area ), hayfields and pasture ( without deer ). They are a means of production and heterogeneous in their structure, quality and space.
This term reflects the features of the functional use of the territory, due to its natural properties ( soil, relief ) and the presence on it of the resources required for a certain type of activity. Using this term, specify the legal regime of specific sites.
The structure and features of the agricultural land
In Art. 79 of the RF Labor Code, the structure of agricultural land is clearly defined ( arable land, hayfields, pastures, perennial plantings ). The Decisions of the Federal State Statistics Service No. 104 dated 12/20/2007 ( paragraph 41 ) and No. 95 dated November 30, 2005 ( paragraphs 12.5-12.1 1) gave the following provisions:
1. Arable land is agricultural land that is systematically cultivated and used for sowing food crops (cereals, vegetables, oilseeds, perennial grasses, etc.), as well as for placing greenhouses (greenhouses, greenhouses ), and steam. The latter include:
- Pure ( black ) - areas plowed last fall under winter crops of the current year.
- The backstage areas are areas where high-stalk crops were sown to retain snow in the winter and combat soil erosion.
- Sideral - territories with sown legumes, which will be further processed into green fertilizer.
2. Haymaking - an agricultural plot systematically used for mowing ( harvesting forage grasses ).
3. Pasture - a site on which animals are grazed ( pastured ) regularly.
4. Perennial plantings - a land occupied by artificial plantings of shrubs, fruit trees and herbs intended for harvesting fruits, berries, medicinal herbs and technical products.
In practice, such types of land as a deposit are distinguished. This is agricultural land that was previously used for arable land, but left un sown for more than 1 year and not prepared for steam.
It is often proposed to add to the list the concept of "inconvenient land" - agricultural plots unsuitable for normal agriculture or requiring restoration ( salt marshes, solonets, washed-out, stony lands, etc. ). Moreover, the territory of agricultural land may become unusable as a result of natural factors ( erosion, landslides, waterlogging, etc. ), human actions ( excessive use ), or technological disasters.
The concept and types of non-agricultural land
Non-agricultural land is land , the surface of which is the basis ( basis ) for the placement of certain objects intended for farming ( maintenance of territories, protection, etc. ).
The types of land of this type are listed in Art. 77 LC RF. This list includes:
1. Land occupied by woody-shrubby vegetation, necessary to protect the plots from adverse events. At the same time, the plantations do not belong to the forest fund and belong entirely to the owner, who can dispose of them at his discretion ( deforestation ). According to the National Land Fund, the area of land with tree and shrub plantings of protective type is 19 million hectares.
2. Plots with closed reservoirs located on them. The latter means ponds, wetlands (not swamps) and flooded quarries, which, according to Part 2 of Art. 8 of the Water Code of the Russian Federation are not state property. As of 2016, the area of land under closed reservoirs reached 13 million hectares.
3. Lands along which on-farm roads and communications for agriculture pass ( reclamation systems, irrigation pipes, etc. ). It is worth noting that under the roads mean country ( unauthorized, self-rolled ) trails and ruts that do not belong to the Russian Federation, region or municipality. Land under roads throughout Russia covers an area of 2.3 million hectares.
4. Land plots with buildings and structures used for processing ( primary ), production and storage of agricultural products ( mills, warehouses, milk stores, etc. ).
Non-agricultural land is a complex object, where the earth acts as the main thing, and various objects - accessories.
Farmland as an object
Often in the legislation a land is considered as an independent object of property right or is used as a synonym for a land plot. For example, Art. 58 of the RF Labor Code speaks of agricultural land, deer pastures owned by citizens or organizations, and in paragraph 2 of Art. 4 of Law No. 101- "land" replaces the concept of "site".
However, such a substitution is fundamentally wrong and even dangerous for the statistical calculation of the territories of agricultural land in Russia and the determination of their structure. It should be understood that the "site" has no individual boundaries and is not considered in the state cadastre as an independent object. In the civil turnover ( purchase and sale, rental, etc. ), it can participate only as part of a certain section.
Restrictions on the civil circulation of SHN sites
The turnover of SHS sites is carried out according to the rules of civil and land legislation and takes into account the current restrictions. The latter mean prohibitions or conditions established by the laws and regulations that constrain the rightholders in the process of owning or disposing of the site of agricultural production.
Federal Law No. 101-FZ provides for the following restrictions:
1. The ban on foreigners ( individuals, organizations with foreign participation in more than 50% ) from acquiring agricultural land. Moreover, the lease of land in unlimited quantities is not prohibited.
2. The impossibility of changing the purpose without the statutory basis. The use of agricultural land without the purpose of conducting appropriate activities is unacceptable.
3. Establishment of limit sizes for SHN sites that may be owned by one person or organization. Specific indicators are determined at the regional level in the range from 10% to 90% of the total land area in a particular municipality.
4. The pre-emptive right of the subject and the administrative region to acquire a plot of agricultural activity in case of its sale.
Restrictions in turnover are associated with the fact that agricultural territories are strategic facilities that ensure the country's food security. Obstruction of the free circulation of land is in the legislation of almost all countries, and in the Russian Federation they are quite soft. For example, in Denmark, organizations are not entitled to acquire or lease land, and individual buyers must live in rural areas for at least 8 years.