Land Valuation

the determination of the comparative worth of land as a means of agricultural production, based on the land’s natural and enhanced fertility, on the various natural and economic conditions of the region in which it is located, and on the lay of the land.

Carried out primarily through classification of soils according to agricultural-production indexes, valuation of land on a point scale gives an idea of what the land is like and what demands can be made of a farm with respect to such matters as income, yield, and taxation. Under capitalism, land valuation has a decisive influence on the price of land and on rent. In the USSR, valuation of land is provided for in the Basic Principles of Land Legislation of the USSR and the Union Republics (1968). Land-valuation data are recorded in the land cadastre.