Involvement of abandoned agricultural land in Bryansk Oblast to agricultural use and factors determining the scale of this process

Background.Involvement of abandoned land to agricultural turnoveris especially relevant in countries are facing with a rising dependence from agri-food imports. Purpose. The purpose of the research is to study the spatial occurrence of the process of abandoned agricultural land returningto agricultural use (re-agrogenesis) on the example of Bryansk Oblast – one of the leaders among Russian regions in agricultural production and to identify the key factors that determine its direction. Materials and methods. The study is based on the concept of agricultural environmental management as a factor causing the transformation of natural, ecological, geographical, social, and economic space. Data for this study were gathered from the official statistical sources for the period 2014-2021. Methods of mathematical statistics were applied. Geospatial analysis of re-agrogenesis was carried out by taking into account the factors determining the directions of re-agrogenesis. Results.The areas with similar characteristics of re-agrogenesis were identified. The factors defining agricultural landdynamics were determined. Correlation links between factors affecting landscapes are used for agricultural purposes and the dynamics of agricultural lands within the boundaries of these areas were set. It is shown that in Bryansk Oblast the large-scale process of abandoned agricultural landsreturning to agricultural use has started since the Russian food embargo introduction. The factors of a reverse process to re-agrogenesis (deagrarization) were determined. Conclusion.The results of the study showedthat the statistical relationships between the factors contributing or limiting the occurrence of re-agrogenesis within the determined areas are different. They depend on agro-environmnetal characteristics of the territory, economic orientation of the municipal districts, investments to the agro-industrial sector, and on environmental and socio-economic situation.