Analysis of Ownership Data from Consolidated Land Threatened by Water Erosion in the Vlára Basin, Slovakia

Alexandra Pagáč Mokrá, Jakub Pagáč, Zlatica Muchová and František Petrovič
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Alexandra Pagáč Mokrá: Department of Landscape Planning and Land Consolidation, Faculty of Horticulture and Landscape Engineering, Slovak University of Agriculture, Hospodárska 7, 949 76 Nitra, Slovakia
Jakub Pagáč: AgroBioTech Research Centre SUA in Nitra, Slovak University of Agriculture, Trieda A. Hlinku 2, 949 76 Nitra, Slovakia
Zlatica Muchová: Department of Landscape Planning and Land Consolidation, Faculty of Horticulture and Landscape Engineering, Slovak University of Agriculture, Hospodárska 7, 949 76 Nitra, Slovakia
František Petrovič: Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Constantinus the Philosopher in Nitra, Trieda A. Hlinku 1, 949 01 Nitra, Slovakia

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Water erosion is a phenomenon that significantly damages agricultural land. The current land fragmentation in Slovakia and the complete ambiguity of who owns it leads to a lack of responsibility to care for the land in its current condition, which could affect its sustainability in the future. The reason so much soil has eroded is obvious when looking at current land management, with large fields, a lack of windbreaks between them, and no barriers to prevent soil runoff. Land consolidation might be the solution. This paper seeks to evaluate redistributed land and, based on modeling by the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) method, to assess the degree of soil erosion risk. Ownership data provided information on how many owners and what amount of area to consider, while taking into account new conditions regarding water erosion. The results indicate that 2488 plots of 1607 owners which represent 12% of the model area are still endangered by water erosion, even after the completion of the land consolidation project. The results also presented a way of evaluating the territory and aims to trigger a discussion regarding an unambiguous definition of responsibility in the relationship between owner and user.

Keywords: water erosion; erosion threat to the soil; land fragmentation; land consolidation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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