In the last two decades in most regions of the country there has been a restoration of abandoned lands during the crisis of the 1990s. and higher yields due to a significant increase in state support for the agricultural sector and structural changes such as the emergence of agricultural holdings. As a result of modern reforms, Russia has become a leading player in the foreign food market. However, these positive developments take place against the background of a process of deepening regional differences in the productivity of the agricultural sector. The aim of the study is a comparative analysis of the dynamics of the withdrawal from circulation of sown areas in the Kirov province during the crisis of the 1990s. and post-crisis period 2000–2020. The analysis of spatio-temporal dynamics of the withdrawal from circulation and restoration of croplands was carried out by remote sensing methods for three agro-climatic zones and the main types of soils in the Kirov province. The main resource of the region is soddy-podzolic soils, which accounted for more than 77 % of the cropland in 1990 and about 70 % in 2020. The reduction in the area of cropland with this type of soil reached 90 % in the northern and 80 % in the central and southern zones, regardless of their differences in heat supply. Crisis period 1990–2000 characterized by the highest rate of withdrawal of agricultural land from circulation. In the post-crisis period, the reduction in sown areas only continued. Against this background, there is an extremely slight recovery of cropland (about 5 % of the 1990 level). There are natural differences in the restoration of sown areas in agro-climatic zones and by soil types, but they are poorly reflected in the overall negative dynamics of cropland, due to the low agro-climatic potential of the entire Kirov province.