Scientists of the Academy of Sciences have developed a set of measures to improve fertility and protect agricultural lands from soil degradation in the Republic of Belarus for 2021-2025. Academician Vitaly Lapa, director of the Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry of the NASB, spoke about this on the eve of World Soil Day, which is celebrated annually on December 5.
The complex includes measures to optimize the acidity of soils in arable and meadow lands, to determine the volume of liming of acidic soils and the need for lime ameliorants to maintain an optimal soil reaction. Measures to increase the reserves of organic matter in soils of arable land are presented, such as optimizing the ratio of row crops and perennial grasses, determining the need for organic fertilizers to ensure a deficit-free balance of humus in soils. The technological aspects of increasing the efficiency of organic fertilizers are described. The balance of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur was assessed and the need for mineral fertilizers for 2021–2025 was determined. The system of micronutrient application in agricultural crop cultivation technologies, the need for micronutrient fertilizers for foliar feeding of agricultural crops and the use of microelements in agricultural crop cultivation technologies are presented. The system of measures to protect soil from degradation includes the recommended use of land and the structure of crops on lands with varying degrees of soil erosion, soil treatment depending on the degree of their erosion (the degree of destruction of the upper most fertile soil horizons) and the peculiarities of the use of fertilizers on eroded soils. The assessment of the effectiveness of measures to increase soil fertility and protect them from degradation has been carried out.
As Academician Vitai Lapa noted, in our country the preservation and enhancement of soil fertility is one of the most important state priorities. A complete infrastructure for agrochemical services for agriculture has been created in the republic, which is based on a set of measures to preserve and improve soil fertility. In increasing the productivity of soils, improving the quality of cultivated products, the use of micronutrients - copper, boric, zinc and manganese - is of great importance. Scientists of the Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry of the NASB have developed more than 20 new forms of liquid chelated micronutrient fertilizers (MicroStim and MicroSil groups) based on organic acids. They have a milder effect, and the technological effect is higher than from chemical salts. Five chemical enterprises of the country are already carrying out their industrial production under license agreements with the Institute. In fact, today the problem of import substitution has been solved, since Belarusian enterprises can fully satisfy the needs of farms for these microfertilizers.
As a result of competent work with soils, scientifically grounded use of organic and mineral fertilizers, systematic liming of acidic soils, the fertility of our lands is steadily increasing: soil acidity decreases, the content of phosphorus, potassium, and humus in them increases.
Soil is one of the national treasures of our country. Maintaining and increasing its fertility, protection from all types of degradation are the main tasks in the process of agricultural activity.
World Soil Day is celebrated annually on December 5th. The main purpose of the introduction of this holiday is to draw the attention of residents of all countries to the need to preserve soil resources, their rational use and prevent a decrease in their fertility potential.