Socio-economic Assessment of Different Land Management Models

Project description

The study's objective was to 1) determine the minimum land areas for sustainable farm management in agriculture and forestry and 2) determine the factors promoting the development of territories, including the importance of land resources. The study was performed in two stages. 

The first stage of the study aims to assess the minimum areas required in agriculture to ensure sustainable farm management. To achieve this aim, a methodology has been developed that allows evaluating the correlation between farm profitability regarding the number of work units and the area of ​​land used, depending on several factors: land quality, production prices, support payments, costs of primary resources, and land acquisition costs. Calculations were made for the main sectors of agriculture: crop production, dairy farming, livestock farming, horticulture, and perennial crop farming.

Two objectives were set for the second stage of the study: 1) to assess the minimum areas required for specialization in forestry to ensure the viability of farms; 2) to determine the factors promoting the development of territories, including the importance of land resources. Calculations have been made for each forest type, managing one of the most common tree species in Latvia that are more or less suitable for the specific type – pine, spruce, birch, aspen, black alder, and white alder, as well as for plantations of individual tree species.