II. Прочтите и переведите текст: Text a. Land Resources Need Conservation

The concept of land conservation may be defined as the preservation and better utilization of land resources for pres­ent and future generations. "Conserve" is in contrast to "de­stroy" or "waste". The idea of conservation means that land resources should be used but used wisely.

The proper, sound and full use of land resources is secured by the State Land Use Control. The land use planner is to discourage land uses that undermine the productive capacity of land and to prevent the waste of land resources. Our wealth of land resources must be used for the maximum benefit of people now and in future.

Man has long tried primitive methods of land conservation. Excessive cultivation and grazing destroyed the natural cov­er, caused increased leaching and opened up soils to more erosion danger.

Land conservation has become the prime concern of land use planners. The concept of making use of nature involves applying scientific and technological achievements to land conservation. The land fertility must be conserved and increased by wise land uses. Here is an example of land con­servation provided by the Ministry of Agriculture of Ukrai­ne.

Nature has endowed this land with vast wealth. But many of its resources, such as the great iron-ore deposits near Kerch and Krivoi Rog, manganese near Nicopol and coal in Donbas and Pridneprovye are hidden under fertile black earth. But mining, especially when it is pit-mining, usually spoils the fertile land.

There are now no major mining centres in the country which are ignoring restoration of soil fertility and after use of derelict land.

The way this is done in the Dnepropetrovsk Region is interesting. The earth over the deposits is removed and stored in its original pattern, depending on the degree to which it can be subsequently used in agricultural cultivation. The worked-out pits are then filled according to a strict formula — dead rock first, then partially usable earth, and then, on top, the life-giving black earth.

Thus new ecological and soil systems have been created as far as fertility goes, they are just as good as the natural ones. Reclaimed fields produce higher yields of an average four tons winter wheat per hectare and even six in certain areas.

Experience shows that conservation measures can and fre­quently do pay off, particularly when they represent wise land resources use overtime.

There are no instances in which a policy of safeguarding or even saving land resources is not profitable. From the stand­point of our needs land conservation programs are always profitable.

III. Прочтите и переведите текст: Text b. Three Dimensions of Land Conservation

Land conservation plays an important role in farming. The further intensification of agricultural production needs a strong land resource base. The conservation of land resources is realized within three dimensions — physical, economic, and legal. The land use planning both infarm and interfarm has to deal with these three dimensions.

The physical dimension of land conservation is concerned with what is possible in terms of land uses. It includes the kinds of plants needed for land conservation, the yields of various plants, cultivation methods, applications of water and ferti­lizers and the rates of applying them.

Land conservation has a wide range of various practices, such as contouring, strip cropping and mulching. It often needs capital investment in such workings as terracing and water-retention structures. The planners have to investigate the effects of these workings on crop yields, run-off, erosion, siltation, infiltration, and the like.

The range of possibilities of land conservation is being extended constantly through research and developments in science and technology. But before the recommendations are made the planners consider the economic dimensions of pro­posed measures. The economic dimensions of land conserva­tion are constantly changing through the changes in scientif­ic and technological progress. They include cost-benefit ana­lysis, the amount of present and long-term benefits, costs of productive factors, and relationship between labor and capital needed to provide land conservation.

Finally, attention is given to legal dimensions of land conservation. The legal dimensions consist of a set of rules and laws concerning land conservation.

The land use planner should be aware of all laws and rules which are reflected in the Land Code. Legal provisions of land conservation should be further developed, particularly concerning the conserva­tion of prime or unique lands which are of crucial importance to agriculture. The three dimensions of land conservation must be con­sidered and implemented through a sound land use plan.

It is hard to overestimate the economic effects of land con­servation. Land conservation provides for additional farm production which is usually large enough to off-set the added costs on land improvement.