Evgeny Vladimirovich Tsvetnov

A detailed review of existing methods of economic assessment of soils in Russia is carried out. It is shown that the
foundations of such an assessment were laid and voiced by V.V. Dokuchaev — in public lectures at meetings of the
Imperial Free Economic Society. Of the domestic soil assessment systems, the most perfect and holistic is the one
created by a group of employees of the V.V. Dokuchaev Soil Institute under the leadership of I.I. Karmanov. The main elements of this system are the soil-ecological index (a bonus score refl ecting the level of soil fertility taking into account specifi c climatic conditions and terrain) and the tariff category of the soil type of the assessed site. Modern methods of assessment, including monetization of ecosystem services of soils in determining the amount of damage from land degradation and assessing the value of soils based on the concepts of «zero soil», are analyzed. It is shown that the most promising approaches to the economic assessment of soils are — the assessment of the cost of individual soil properties, the cost of soil modifi ers used to improve soil quality, the cost of soils, soils and soil mixtures used for the purposes of reclamation, landscaping and landscaping, the assessment of the cost of ecosystem services of soils for lands of various economic use. Examples of approbation of some methods of economic assessment of soils for the territory of the Educational and Experimental Soil-ecological Center of Lomonosov Moscow State University «Chashnikovo» are considered.

The article is devoted to the theory and practice of applying the concept of land degradation neutrality (LDN) for
the conditions of the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation. Its basic version is considered, based on the analysis
of three sub–indicators, where the assessment of land degradation trends in the study area is based on the analysis of changes in the main indicator — the percentage of degraded land from the total area of the territory, and three
sub-indicators of SDG 15.3.1: changes in land productivity, changes in land cover and dynamics of soil organic carbon reserves. As an adjustment to the basic approach of the LDN, it is proposed to supplement it with regional data on soil characteristics. Th e following soil properties can be recommended as necessary for considering in the
evaluation model — the content of humus and nutrients, as well as pH, these characteristics, on the one hand, are
largely related to soil fertility, and on the other hand, they are most at risk of degradation changes during human
exploitation of soils. Modifi cation of the LDN methodology allows not only to clarify the central (umbrella) indicator,
but also to identify the relationship of the latter with indicators of agricultural production, in particular, gross crop
yields. Analysis of the data using the modifi ed LDN method showed that 64.8% of the region was degraded (which
is almost 2 times higher than the values obtained by the basic LDN method), which leads to a signifi cant loss of crop
yield. Th e article proposes an algorithm for assessing the relationship between land degradation and gross crop yields
based on correlation and regression analysis (spatial models).

The purpose of the study was to assess the current state of food security in some regions of the Russian Federation,
to identify bottlenecks that hinder its achievement, and also to try to determine the relationship between food
security indicators and the degree of land degradation – categories that largely determine the socio-ecological
development of the region. Belgorod, Vladimir, Volgograd, Kaliningrad, Penza, Samara regions were selected as
test regions. At the same time, the choice of the self-suffi ciency indicator for the main types of food products as the
most representative indicator for assessing food security at the municipal level is justified. Th e adapted methodology
for calculating self-suffi ciency for the municipal level consisted in using the calculated indicators of the required
production volumes in accordance with rational consumption standards, which allowed us to obtain an objective assessment of how much municipal formations are able to provide the population living there with the main types of products. The adapted methodology proposed by the authors for calculating indicators of self-suffi ciency in basic types of food at the municipal level is described in detail in earlier publications. Th e results of the analysis of the
data obtained on self-suffi ciency in such types of products as potatoes, vegetables, meat, milk, fruits and berries in the municipal districts of the test regions in dynamics for the period 2010-2021 are presented. In addition, the relationship between the calculated indicators of self-suffi ciency in the main types of food and the degree of land degradation in the municipalities of the test regions was revealed. The results obtained made it possible to identify the main problems associated with ensuring food security and develop proposals to improve the situation.<br>

On the basis of testing various varieties of ecological and economic assessment of lands on the territory of the Russian
Plain, their systematization was carried out both fr om the standpoint of the ratio of profi t and loss associated with
nature management, and the attribution of these varieties to the areas of economic science that diff erently determine
the role of human economic activity in ecological systems.
The predominance in the Russian Federation of those techniques and methods of ecological and economic assessment,
which are associated with the defi nition of damage/ harm from pollution, degradation and cluttering of land plots, is shown. Th e results of the approbation of the «Methodology for determining the extent of damage from
soil and land degradation» (1994) for agricultural farms located in various regions of the Russian Federation — in the Volgograd, Belgorod, Kaliningrad and Penza regions are presented. It has been established that the damage caused to agricultural lands in all the studied regions is due to the low level of agrotechnical measures carried out
here — mainly insuffi cient application of organic and mineral fertilizers, liming of acidic soils (for example, in the
Kaliningrad region) and gypsum of saline soils (in the Volgograd region).
Methods wh ere the comparison of income and losses is carried out (methodology Y. von Braun, adjusting the value
of land based on information about their ecological condition), are the most diffi cult to implement, but the most promising from a practical point of view. The results of the adjustment of the cadastral value of the lands of the Western Administrative District of Moscow based on the calculation of the indicator of loss of ecological quality of soils are presented. In some cases, the decrease in the cadastral value of land plots was 71% compared to the initial value. It has been established that the assessment of environmental damage refers to the direction of «environmental economics», the assessment of ecosystem services of soils and lands, the adjustment of the value of land based on
information about their ecological condition, the assessment of environmental tax/environmental payments, — to
the direction of «ecological economics», the methodology of J. von Braun and the assessment of environmental risks
of pollution, degradation and littering of land — towards the direction of «green economics».