Relative evaluation of agricultural land for purposes of land consolidation

The main tasks of land consolidation are to eliminate land fragmentation and to facilitate farms of optimal size.One of the most important preconditions of land consolidation is forming of optimal size farmland plots in property and use, and land fragmentation, which has a major impact on both the operating conditions and other rural development processes.Land fragmentation bothers not only land management, but also increases transport costs.During the land reform in the rural areas, land plots in ownership and rented land plots are developed per several land units.The other factor contributing to the fragmentation of farmlands is the development of the land market, because it is not always possible to find land next to the owner's farmland for purchasing or leasing the land for the purpose of the land area increasing.In The Land Management Law, which was adopted in 2014 by the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia, which aim was to establish a legal basis for rational land use and sustainable spatial development, the agricultural land consolidation was emphasized.In the process of land consolidation an equivalent land exchange between agricultural landowners is carried out.Foreign experience shows that different values are applied, for example, in Germany the so-called relative value of agricultural land is calculated on the bases of land's qualitative assessments.Also in Latvia some activities have been carried out in the land relative assessment for the land consolidation needs.A pilot project on agricultural land relative assessment in 2016 was carried out for land consolidation needs under the guidance of the article's authors in cooperation with the State Land Service.The aim of the paper is to examine the method of land assessment and analyse its suitability for the land parcel exchange for the purpose of the land consolidation pilot project.