The purpose of the study was to assess the current state of food security in some regions of the Russian Federation, to identify bottlenecks that hinder its achievement, and also to try to determine the relationship between food security indicators and the degree of land degradation - categories that largely determine the socio-ecological development of the region. Belgorod, Vladimir, Volgograd, Kaliningrad, Penza, Samara regions were selected as test regions. At the same time, the choice of the self-sufficiency indicator for the main types of food products as the most representative indicator for assessing food security at the municipal level is justifed. The adapted methodology for calculating self-sufficiency for the municipal level consisted in using the calculated indicators of the required production volumes in accordance with rational consumption standards, which allowed us to obtain an objective assessment of how much municipal formations are able to provide the population living there with the main types of products. The adapted methodology proposed by the authors for calculating indicators of self-sufficiency in basic types of food at the municipal level is described in detail in earlier publications. The results of the analysis of the data obtained on self-sufficiency in such types of products as potatoes, vegetables, meat, milk, fruits and berries in the municipal districts of the test regions in dynamics for the period 2010-2021 are presented. In addition, the relationship between the calculated indicators of self-sufficiency in the main types of food and the degree of land degradation in the municipalities of the test regions was revealed. The results obtained made it possible to identify the main problems associated with ensuring food security and develop proposals to improve the situation.

The damage from soil and land degradation was assessed at three hierarchical levels (the oblast as a whole, municipality, and agricultural sector) of the spatial organization of six test oblasts of the Russian Federation (Volgograd, Belgorod, Kaliningrad, Vladimir, Samara, and Penza oblasts). The indicators of soil and land degradation for all test objects included a decrease in the content of exchangeable potassium, a decrease in the content of mobile phosphorus, a decrease in the content of humus, and a change in the soil-acidity index. In addition, the indicator of soil solonetzization was used for the test objects of Volgograd oblast, soil erosion was used for Belgorod oblast, and the metabolic coefficient (qCO2) of soils was used for Kaliningrad oblast. It was found that the minimum and maximum values of the specific total damage from degradation can be found for oblasts with a similar composition of the soil cover (Saratov and Belgorod oblast, respectively, where chernozem soils predominate). When the values of the specific total damage from soil and land degradation are close to each other at different hierarchical levels of the spatial organization of oblasts (Vladimir, Saratov, Belgorod, and, partly, Penza oblasts), in terms of the intensity and scale of manifestation of the degradation processes under study, the agricultural economy is “typical” for the entire municipal district, and the municipal district is “typical” for the entire oblast.

The article is devoted to the theory and practice of applying the concept of land degradation neutrality (LDN) for the conditions of the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation. Its basic version is considered, based on the analysis of three sub-indicators, where the assessment of land degradation trends in the study area is based on the analysis of changes in the main indicator - the percentage of degraded land from the total area of the territory, and three sub-indicators of SDG 15.3.1: changes in land productivity, changes in land cover and dynamics of soil organic carbon reserves. As an adjustment to the basic approach of the LDN, it is proposed to supplement it with regional data on soil characteristics. The following soil properties can be recommended as necessary for considering in the evaluation model - the content of humus and nutrients, as well as pH, these characteristics, on the one hand, are largely related to soil fertility, and on the other hand, they are most at risk of degradation changes during human exploitation of soils. Modif cation of the LDN methodology allows not only to clarify the central (umbrella) indicator, but also to identify the relationship of the latter with indicators of agricultural production, in particular, gross crop yields. Analysis of the data using the modif ed LDN method showed that 64.8% of the region was degraded (which is almost 2 times higher than the values obtained by the basic LDN method), which leads to a signif cant loss of crop yield. The article proposes an algorithm for assessing the relationship between land degradation and gross crop yields based on correlation and regression analysis (spatial models).

As a development of the ideas of ecological and economic assessment of land degradation, the notion of societal land value is suggested as a characteristic that simplifies the consideration of the environmental factor, including, in particular, ecosystem services in the final valuation indicators. An integral part of the societal value of agricultural land is the value of the basic properties of soil associated with agricultural production. To convert soil indicators into monetary values, the cost of an analogous artificial product available on the market and related to the given soil property (e.g., vermicompost as an analogue of soil humus) is taken into account. The assessment of societal land value for Belgorod oblast attests to a high contribution (up to 62%) of soil component to it. It is proposed that the category of societal land value can be used as the basis for calculation of indicators of the ecological and economic damage from land degradation.