The paper discusses the state of land reclamation in the Russian Federation. It observes reduction of the scope of reclamation work in the last two decades, deterioration of irrigation and drainage systems, and breakage of material and nonmaterial spheres of the irrigation and drainage sector. A concept is considered for renewal and development of land reclamation in Russia, which is proposed by the Russian Land Reclamation Department and includes measures that by 2020 would allow increasing the area of reclaimed land and re-equipping of existing irrigation and drainage systems and thus would help to solve the issue of national food security. In particular, the paper gives characteristics of natural conditions and of land and water resources in the central black earth region. The needs for and opportunities of land irrigation are identified for this region. Irrigation water demands and sources are determined. New water intakes - the systems of artificial groundwater recharge for irrigation - are suggested for the areas having unfavorable conditions for construction of ponds.