Assessment of Agricultural Areas Suitable for Agroforestry in Latvia

Andis Bārdulis (), Jānis Ivanovs, Arta Bārdule, Dagnija Lazdiņa, Dana Purviņa, Aldis Butlers and Andis Lazdiņš
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Andis Bārdulis: Latvian State Forest Research Institute ‘Silava’ (LSFRI Silava), Rigas Str. 111, LV-2169 Salaspils, Latvia
Jānis Ivanovs: Latvian State Forest Research Institute ‘Silava’ (LSFRI Silava), Rigas Str. 111, LV-2169 Salaspils, Latvia
Arta Bārdule: Latvian State Forest Research Institute ‘Silava’ (LSFRI Silava), Rigas Str. 111, LV-2169 Salaspils, Latvia
Dagnija Lazdiņa: Latvian State Forest Research Institute ‘Silava’ (LSFRI Silava), Rigas Str. 111, LV-2169 Salaspils, Latvia
Dana Purviņa: Latvian State Forest Research Institute ‘Silava’ (LSFRI Silava), Rigas Str. 111, LV-2169 Salaspils, Latvia
Aldis Butlers: Latvian State Forest Research Institute ‘Silava’ (LSFRI Silava), Rigas Str. 111, LV-2169 Salaspils, Latvia
Andis Lazdiņš: Latvian State Forest Research Institute ‘Silava’ (LSFRI Silava), Rigas Str. 111, LV-2169 Salaspils, Latvia

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 10, 1-17

Abstract: The role of trees on agricultural land is predicted to increase rapidly in order to achieve biodiversity, environmental, and climate goals. This study demonstrated the selection and evaluation approach and assessed the suitable agricultural land for agroforestry practices in hemiboreal Latvia, which was selected as the demonstration area by synthesizing knowledge of environmental sciences, remote sensing, and relevant legislation on land use and management. The total area of agricultural land suitable for agroforestry was estimated to be 14.1% of the total agricultural land in Latvia (351.5 kha). The selected agricultural land mainly comprised semihydromorphic soils; the dominant soil texture was loamy sand. Current dominant land use in the selected agricultural land consisted of heterogeneous agriculture and pastures; however, the selected agricultural parcels were outside intensive agricultural production for the most part—only 0.38% of the total selected agricultural land was accepted to receive state support and/or EU support to farmers under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Considering the lengthy process of implementation of new agricultural-land-management practices, as well as taking into account the ambitious timeframe for reaching biodiversity, environmental, and climate goals, we recommend reducing hindrances to the introduction of agroforestry systems. The provided selection and evaluation approach is transferable to other countries and regions by adaptation of the elaborated methodologies to available country-specific spatial information and data

Keywords: agroforestry; agricultural land; trees; hemiboreal zone; climate change mitigation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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