Evaluation of Selected Indicators Pointing at the Current Condition and Importance of Agricultural Land Protection in Slovakia

Agricultural land is currently protected by many subjects and institutions. The characteristics of the soil in terms of its functions and importance for individuals or society from perspectives of several scientific disciplines is dealt with by several authors. The aim of the paper is to point out the current state and importance of the agricultural land protection in Slovakia in connection with the threats that affect its quantity and overall quality. The indicators as the area of agricultural land and the structure of the land fund, the evolution of agricultural land withdrawals for non-agricultural purposes and the current state or structure of legislation and institutions in the field of agricultural land protection in Slovakia were evaluated. The paper pointed out the important role of agricultural land in the country, as its area, especially with the majority of arable land and permanent grasslands, represents the majority of the total area of Slovakia. For several years, however, the volume of agricultural land has been steadily declining. This phenomenon is partly caused by the agricultural land withdrawals, which have now managed to stabilize at an average of 1000ha of withdrawn land per year. In Slovakia, there is currently a large number of legislative acts regulating the protection and agricultural land withdrawals, as well as a wide range of state and non-state institutions that operate in the field of agricultural land protection. The effectiveness of the implementation of legislation and the effectiveness of mutual cooperation of institutions seems questionable focusing on the current state of the land fund, which leads to the need to expand research on these aspects.