Radioactive contamination of the environment following the Chernobyl accident still provide a substantial impact on the population of affected territories in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. Reduction of population exposure can be achieved by performing remediation activities in these areas. Resulting from the IAEA Technical Co-operation Projects with these countries, the program ReSCA (Remediation Strategies after the Chernobyl Accident) has been developed to provide assistance to decision makers and to facilitate a selection of an optimized remediation strategy in rural settlements. The paper provides in-depth description of the program, its algorithm, and structure.
The radionuclide uptake by crops strongly depends on soil fertility and biological features of plants. The sou" reac tion, humus content, calcium, magnesium and potassium status are the most important soil properties, which determine ra dionuclide transfer to plants. The evaluation of separate soil property influence on the radionuclide uptake by plants is a com plex task. It was found that' "Cs and *Sr transfer to plants are reduced by a factor 1.5 to 3.0 as a result ctf the change of sodpodzolic soil reaction from acid (pHua 4,5-5,0) to neutral range (pHua 6,5-7,0), of humus content from 1.0 up to 3.5% and of exchangeable potassium content from tow (< 80 mg ICjCVkg of soil) up to high range (200-350 mg/kg). The lowest transfer ring of radionuclides to plants was observed at the optimal range of soil fertility parameters. On the basis of compilation and processing of experimental data the transfer factors of l37 Cs and '"Sr from soil to crop had been differentiated according to sail fertility parameters tar prediction of radionuclide accumulation in plant production. The soil fertility has to be improved in such a way that proposes the significant increase of crop yields with decreasing of the risk of people internal irradiation.
A critical overview of dynamics of agrochemical indices of arable soils fertility over 50-year period is presented. The low-yield sod-podzol and swampy soils of Belarus were relatively poor in available plant nutrients. As a result of the largescale water engineering, liming and the intensive use of fertilizers over the period of 1965–2020 the productivity of arable land increased from 1.5 to 4.6 tons per hectare in grain equivalent. The significant improvement of soil fertility status was also achieved. Data of soil fertility status are based on the large-scale soil test monitoring conducted by State Agrochemical Service every 4–5 years. The share of strongly and moderately acid soils with pH < 5.0, that are harmful for the main crops, decreased from 66.8 % in 1970 to 4.5% of total area of arable land in 2004. However, the share of acid arable soils increased up to 9.8% in 2020, due to insufficient volume of liming that will be increased in the forthcoming years. The average organic matter (O.M.) content had been strongly increased from 1.77 to 2.28 % during the period of 1970–2000, due to high share of perennial grasses in cropping structure and manure application up to 14–15 t/ha per year. About 1 million ha of drained soils with the high O.M. content was also involved to arable land. The average O.M. content in the last two decades had been in mobile equilibrium of 2.23–2.27 % with a tendency to decline in some districts. The average contents of mobile Phosphorous and Potassium in arable soils increased up to 2.4–3.2 times during the experimental period and they are in the optimal range for cultivated crops. Currently balanced fertilization is the most important, with differentiation of fertilizer rates that would be most suitable to crop requirements and soil tests on each field. Formation and maintenance of optimal soil fertility indices, especially pH and mobile Р2О5 and К2О contents, are strictly controlled as protective measures on the land contaminated with radionuclides 137Cs and 90Sr after Chernobyl accident. Measures to improve the efficiency of capital investment at fertility reproduction and use of arable soils are discussed currently.
The results of field experiments on specially prepared 4 levels of exchangeable magnesium content in the podzoluvisol loamy soil in a wide range of (Mg 45–240 mg/kg) are presented. The parameters of soil and plant diagnostic for sulfur and magnesium supply of winter triticale had been developed. The range of the optimal exchangeable magnesium content Mg 140–155 mg/kg of soil and the equivalent ratio of cations (Ca2+: Mg2+ = 4–5 and K+ : Mg2+ = 0,6–0,7) had been found. The obtained results could be used for the choice of the appropriate fields for triticale grain yield of 70 t/ha and more, as well as to identify the need for foliar spray of plants with solution of MgSO4 ∙ 7H2O according to the analysis of soils and plants in the early stages of their development.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.