Agricultural Land Degradation and Regulation of Agrarian Formations

The article addresses the ongoing issue of soil fertility depletion in the Republic of Bashkortostan, which has been occurring over many years. According to the authors, this has become a major obstacle to the sustainable and progressive development of agriculture in the region. The aim of the study is to demonstrate to agricultural community representatives how it is possible and necessary to adapt the production of economic entities in order to increase the profitability of resource use, particularly land, as well as to emphasize the leading role of the state in addressing the problem of declining soil fertility. The findings of the study may be useful for the leaders of the agro-industrial complex in selectively supporting agribusiness in territorial units where such business is objectively inefficient. This issue is particularly relevant in the Republic of Bashkortostan, which is divided into six agricultural zones based on natural-climatic and economic-geographical production conditions, resulting in a significant gap in the profitability of production costs. The explanation is simple – nearly half of the arable land is 10–30 % less fertile compared to the average level, and consequently, the cost of production is correspondingly higher.