About preservation and reproduction of soil fertility

Information and analytical materials on scientific substantiation of measures for conservation and
reproduction of soil fertility
Entry
The total area of Ukraine is 60.3 million hectares, agricultural land – 41.5 million hectares, arable land –
32.7 million hectares. Favorable land-resource conditions Ukraine is largely due to soil
cover, which more than 70% consists of black soil and meadow-chernozem soil, which are
characterized by high levels of natural fertility. Ukrainian black soils make up 8.8% of the
area of these soils in the world. These soils are distinguished by a deep humus layer, an agronomically valuable granular
structure, an almost perfect density of structure, a good supply of nutrients. The potential for fertility
Soil of Ukraine allows to obtain steel crops at the level of 60 million tons of grain, and with appropriate
investments – gradually reach the level of 80 million tons. Therefore, we have a unique land-
resource potential, economical, efficient, rational and environmentally friendly use and
all the protection of which is available. modern conditions one of the most pressing problems of national
security of the country.
During the land reform in Ukraine, almost 30
million hectares of agricultural land was transferred free of charge to the property of the population , the total regulatory value of which amounts
to UAH 800 billion. At the same time, the use of land resources does not fully meet the requirements of
rational use of nature, which is a consequence of national conservation interests
the quality of the country’s soil resources and the private interests of obtaining rapid profits from
agricultural activities. Most agricultural producers do not
adhere to scientifically sound crop rotations and soil protection technologies during crop cultivation
, do not have the required amount of organic and mineral fertilizers, which
leads to land depletion, degradation of soil fertility and degradation. Land
tracts of agricultural land were crushed , borders and elements of contour-reclamation
organization of the territory were lost . Compared to European countries, arable lands make up 30-32% of the
total area, plowed Ukrainian lands – 53.8%.
Comparison of arable soils with virgin analogues shows that over the last 40-50 years the most
characteristic processes are:
– loss of arable soil of humus with an intensity of 0.42-0.51 t / ha per year;
– Sustained nutrient balance in agriculture;
– acidification of chernozem soils by 0.3-0.5 pH units, especially noticeable in Cherkasy and
Sumy regions;
– re-compaction, especially noticeable in the western forest-steppe, structure destruction, glitter and crust formation
;

– erosion losses of the top layer of soil, reaching several centimeters in black earth soils
and in dried up Polesie soils;
– secondary salinization and salinization of irrigated soils;
– operation of peatlands and the like.
Other negative processes, locally observed, are widespread contamination with
radionuclides (11.1% of arable land), pesticides (9.3%) and heavy metals (8%),
waterlogging (14%) and others.
For 130 years, since the first measurements of humus content in soils of Ukraine, made by V.V. According to Dokuchaev,
humus losses in the forest-steppe soils averaged 22%, in the steppe soils -19.5% and in the
Polesie soils – about 19%. The greatest humus losses occurred in the 70s, when in the structure of crops
sharply increased the share of row crops – sugar beet and sunflower. However, in the 1980s, the loss
was managed to be halted due to the annual average use of 8.4 t / ha of manure and
about 170 kg a.d. mineral fertilizers per 1 ha of arable land, and in some areas even higher – respectively
15 t / ha and more than 200 kg a.d. It was during these years that simple reproduction of
fertility was achieved in the soil of Ukraine , that is, a deficit-free balance of the basic nutrients and humus was formed. At
Unfortunately, in the years to making a reduction in arable soil mineral and organic fertilizers.
This led to the gradual depletion of the soil: the reduction of areas of soils with high and high
content of mobile phosphorus and potassium, decrease of humus content from 3.36% in 1986-1990 to 3.14%
in 2006-2010. For the period of 2010-2015, agrochemical passport data indicate improvement
of soil humus dynamics in Ukraine. This is primarily due to the increase in
crop residues due to increased crop yields, but one
cannot ignore the subjective factor of changes in the areas under which the passport is held.
The loss of humus and the extremely high level of plowing of agricultural land in the
soil of the country worsen the physical properties and increase the risk of water and wind erosion.
Water erosion is affected by more than 13 million hectares of agricultural land, of which almost 11 million hectares are arable land.
land.
More than 50% of arable land in Ukraine is deflation dangerous, 12.4 million ha of which is in the
steppe zone. The direct loss of erosion is about $ 5 billion annually. And
$ 1 billion indirectly caused by loss of crop on eroded soils.
Soil re-compaction is the most dangerous consequence of intensive mechanical processing in all
natural areas of Ukraine. In spite of the fact that since 2007 there is a standard in Ukraine limiting
loading on soil, machine and tractor units with
unacceptable specific pressure continue to be used in the country . As a result, the phenomenon of physical soil degradation is
observed in more than half of the arable land.
Other negative factors (salinity,
salinity, waterlogging, etc.) are also reflected in the quality of land resources . In particular, medium and high-
saline soils occupy 0.5 million hectares of agricultural land, and saline soils – 1.7 million hectares (4.1 percent). In addition, 1.9 million hectares of
agricultural land are wetland, 1.8 million hectares are wetlands and 0.6 million hectares are
rocky soils. Soils with high acidity make up 9.6 million hectares of agricultural
land, of which 4.4 million hectares are medium and strongly acidic, and 5.2 million hectares are close to neutral ones.

The quality of land resources is significantly affected by hydrometeorological and hazardous exogenous
geological processes and phenomena (villages, landslides, landslides, karst, subsidence, abrasion, destruction
of reservoirs, etc.), which are more than 50% of the territory.
Flooding processes are developing in 17% of the territory . According to the estimates of the Institute of Land Management, the area of degraded
and fertile soils in arable land exceeds 6.5 million hectares, or 20% of the area. According to
other institutions (NSC “Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry named after ON Sokolovsky”, NSC
“Institute of Agriculture NAAS”), the area of degraded and fertile soils is over 8 and
even about 10 million hectares. Direct annual losses from major soil degradation reach at
as a whole in Ukraine about 40 billion UAH.
Despite the increased degradation of soils, there is a reduction in the financing of
anti-erosion and soil protection measures. During 2009-2012, the state
budget funds for land protection works decreased by almost
20 times compared to the previous years , while in 2012-2015 the allocation of funds for the works on conservation and restoration of
land, ensuring their rational use by the state budget did not it was
considered that it made it impossible to take the necessary measures. At present, in connection with the
decentralization of power in Ukraine, funding for soil fertility protection should
it should also be undertaken with the involvement of local communities, but
appropriate programs and projects are also required .
Land degradation and reduce their fertility due to several reasons, which lie in the plane of
outstanding issues legal, organizational, economic and administrative character
– is extremely high, economically and environmentally unjustified level of economic
development of the territory (especially in some areas of steppe and steppe);
– the presence of areas that are constantly affected by natural hazards (droughts,
floods, landslides, villages, etc.), high levels of man-made pollution of the
environment in many regions;
– imperfect organization of relations in the agricultural complex between landowners,
land users and state institutions;
– spontaneous formation of new types of land use in market conditions by leasing of
land shares (shares), which are characterized by instability, small-scale contours, through striations;
– the use of agro-technologies that do not fully reproduce soil fertility;
– imperfection of the state control system for land use and protection,
including soils;
– insufficient legal and regulatory, technical and logistical
support for land use and protection;
– lack of state, regional and local programs for comprehensive solution of issues
use and protection of soil;

– imperfection of financial instruments for economic stimulation of soil protection works and
reproduction of their fertility. – Rational use and protection of land – is being implemented very
slowly.

LEGISLATIVE, REGULATORY AND REGULATORY METHODOLOGICAL PROVISION
OF SAVING AND RESTORING SOIL FACTORY IN UKRAINE •

The main legislative acts regulating the protection of
Ukraine. 2001 No. 2768;
 The Civil Code of Ukraine dated 16.01. 2003 № 435;
 Law of Ukraine “On Land Protection” of 19.06.2003 № 962;
 Law of Ukraine “On State Control of Land Use and Protection” of
19.06.2003 No. 963;
 The Law of Ukraine “On the State Land Cadastre” of 07.07.2011 No. 3661;
 Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Preserving
Soil Fertility” of 04.06.2009 No. 1443;
 Law of Ukraine “On Land Valuation” of December 11, 2003, No. 1378.
Unfortunately, the above-mentioned legislative documents are not fully provided with the relevant by-laws
and regulations, which prevents the effective functioning of the laws.
In particular, the Land Code of Ukraine (Articles 191-192) provides for the monitoring of land, which
is carried out in Ukraine according to the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine “On Approval of the Regulation
on Land Monitoring” of August 20, 1993 No. 661, “On Approval of the Regulation on State
environmental monitoring system ”dated March 30, 1998, No. 391 and is an important component of the state
land cadastre. However, due to the departmental dispersion of monitoring observations on the
state of land in Ukraine and their methodological inconsistency, the information obtained is in
separate unstructured databases, mainly on paper and limited by too
narrow a range of degradation processes. In connection with the above, Presidential Decree
No. 572/2013 of October 18, 2013, introduced the NSDCU decision of April 25, 2013 “On a
set of measures to improve environmental monitoring
and state regulation in the field of environmental management. waste in Ukraine, ”which
the actual absence of an effective state environmental monitoring system in Ukraine was noted, and
a number of measures were envisaged to improve its efficiency.
The Land Code of Ukraine also provides for the establishment of standards for land and
soil degradation that have not yet been elaborated. The current Procedure conservation land, approved
by order of the State Committee of Ukraine on October 17, 2002 number 175, there are only 13
indicator indicators that have intermediate levels of degradation, and therefore does not give grounds for
planning appropriate precautions, leading to further deterioration of
soil fertility .
The Law of Ukraine “On Land Protection” provides for the elaboration of the National Program on Land Protection
of land protection. Since 2004, several variants of this program have been developed, as well as the
National Soil Fertility Protection Program. Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
No. 2133 of 02.11.04 “On sending for re-reading the draft laws of Ukraine“ On the National
Land Use and Protection Program ”and“ On the National
Soil Fertility Protection Program ”these bills were combined, but unfortunately, so and not accepted. In 2010, the
State Land Committee of Ukraine initiated the separation of these bills and the submission to the
National Program of Land Use and Protection after stabilization of the financial and
economic situation in Ukraine. So far, the draft National Land Conservation Program has been drafted
it has not been submitted to the Verkhovna Rada, although according to Article 14 of the Constitution of Ukraine, “land is a major
national treasure under special protection of the state”. Thus,
unlike other natural resources, land in Ukraine does not yet have a nationwide program of
use and protection.

The project of the National Soil Conservation Program of Ukraine was developed by the National Scientific
Center “ON Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry”. Sokolovsky “according to the Resolution
of the General Meeting NAAS” Conceptual framework program of scientific and organizational and investment and
innovative development of NAAS 12.18.2013 p. Unfortunately, CMU Resolution of 5 March 2014 g. Number
71 was suspended funding of state programs of education, science and medicine , and
a moratorium on developing new programs. Therefore, at this time,
only certain regional (regional or district) programs remain in this area , which do not significantly affect the state of affairs in the
country as a whole. For example, in the Comprehensive Program for Investment and Innovative Development of AAS and
of land reform of Kharkiv region in 2011-2015 and for the period until 2020, protection of soil
and increase of their fertility are devoted only 2 pages of 84, which contain materials of more
declarative nature. The situation is similar in other regions of Ukraine.
The main measure to remedy this situation should be to restore the state’s
program of rational use and protection of soil and to grant it the status of national. The aim of the
program is to create the preconditions for the balanced development of the soil cover and the
suspension of negative processes occurring in the soil of the country. The program should be directed
to a fundamentally new type of sustainable (economical) land use for the country that will provide
a harmonious relationship between anthropogenic loading and the natural potential of the soil for
restoration and full productive and ecological functioning.
Emphasis in the program should be placed on the suspension of soil-degradation processes, including
dehumidification, erosion, deconstruction, re-compaction, soil depletion of nutrients
. In addition, the environmental risks posed by acidification,
salinisation, sedimentation, biodiversity loss and pollution must be avoided. It is essential to
improve the environment, working conditions and living conditions of the rural population, and in general, the
attractiveness of the agrosphere, especially for young people.
The implementation of the program should:
– to ensure the rational use and conservation of soils as an essential component of the
agroecosystem;
– to ensure the application of soil protection technologies in the implementation of economic and other
activities;
– timely detection of negative changes in soil condition;
– to provide scientific validity of soil protection measures;
– ensure publicity, completeness and accuracy of information on soil condition, on the volume
of soil protection measures applied;
– ensure public participation in decision-making in the field of soil protection; the inevitability of
liability for soil damage.
In 2013, with the initiative and direct involvement of NAAS scientists, a draft law was developed
Of Ukraine “On Soil Conservation and Protection of Their Fertility”, prepared under the order of the
Ministry of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine No. 13-3 / 7 of April 8, 2013 This Law was to define the legal, economic,
environmental and organizational bases for the use and conservation of soils, protection and reproduction of their
fertility , to establish the basic principles of state policy in this field, requirements for maintaining the
quality of the soil cover, protecting it from negative natural and anthropogenic
influences. The purpose of the draft law was to adopt a full-fledged
framework-type legal act containing all the necessary provisions and norms governing legal
relations in this field.
The Committee on Agrarian Policy and Land Relations of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
considered the draft law at its meeting on March 17, 2015 (Reg. No. 1798 of January 20, 2015),
but recommended that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine reject it due to duplication of certain
provisions with other legislative acts . Due to the rejection of the draft law “On
Soil Conservation and Protection of Their Fertility” in 2017. the draft Law of Ukraine «On

Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts on Mechanisms for Improving Soil Conservation and
Economic Incentives for the Reproduction of Their Fertility ”, which is currently in place.
Thus, in spite of the crucial importance of soils for
economic development and food security, there is no separate law establishing
fundamental principles of state policy and rules that would guarantee the preservation of the country’s unique
soil cover, its environmental and productive functions and the creation of the necessary conditions
for efficient use of soil resources without negative consequences for future
generations.
In 2002, Ukraine acceded to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (CSW) and took over
commit itself to the implementation of its provisions, in particular:
 identify natural and anthropogenic factors contributing to desertification and land degradation,
and propose measures to mitigate their negative effects;
 formulate a long-term state policy, program and action plan to address
desertification and land degradation;
 improve the condition of the affected agro-ecosystems by changing land use and reducing the
degree of land degradation;
 Introduce methods of sustainable agro-resource management and agriculture;
 Develop sustainable irrigation systems.
To solve the tasks set by the decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine from 22
October 2014 No. 1024-p approved the Concept of Combating Land Degradation and Desertification.
Thereafter, the Decree No. 271-p of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of March 30, 2016
approved the National Action Plan for Combating Land Degradation and Desertification.
The Action Plan envisages increasing the effectiveness of public policy on the rational
use and protection of soils, strengthening and improving the coordination of the activities of authorized
state bodies, as well as ensuring the implementation of planned measures. The implementation of the provisions of the
Concept and Action Plan is complicated by the lack of a competent national body for the
formulation and implementation of state policy in the field of rational land use and
protection of soils, achievement of neutral level of their degradation.
Pursuant to these international agreements, a resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of January 18, 2017,
established the Coordination Council for Combating Land Degradation and Desertification.
At the first Coordination Council meeting on May 4, 2018, 3 major voluntary
national targets were adopted to achieve R&D in Ukraine, namely:
1) maintaining organic matter / humus content in soils;
2) restoration and sustainable use of peatlands;
3) restoration of irrigation and improvement of ecological and amelioration status of irrigated lands.
The first of these targets is expected to achieve a stable organic content by 2020
carbon in agricultural soils, and to increase it by not less than
0.1% by 2030, including in the sections of zones: Polesie – by 0.10-0.16%; Forest-steppe and Steppe – by 0.08-0.10%. The
baseline (baseline) for these strategic landmarks is the results of agrochemical certification of
agricultural land as of 2010, in particular, the average humus content in the arable
soil layer is 3.14% on average across Ukraine, including in the sections of Polesie 2 , 24%, Forest Steppe 3.19%, Steppe
3.40%.
Hence, maintaining humus content in the soil is now not just a matter for farmers, but a
nationwide commitment to the international community. The choice of this key
indicator of land degradation prevention is due to a multifaceted regulatory value
Organic carbon in ensuring the sustainable functioning of soils, in particular, reducing
soil erosion , overcoming their agrophysical and biological degradation, preventing depletion of nutrients
, minimizing salinization, sedimentation and acidification of soils, the effects of their
regulation and pollution , etc.

2) 02.08.2019 Today there was the introduction of the Law of Ukraine “On basic principles and
requirements for organic production, handling and labeling of organic products” 2496-
VIII