Journal of Water and Land Development

Abstract

The article presents results of quality class determination and regulatory and monetary valuation of agricultural land in the steppe soils irrigation zone using the Karmanov's methodology of soil and climatic quality class determination and author's methodology of ecological, agro-ameliorative and climatic soils quality class determination. Based on the results of spatial modeling, a series of maps was created and characteristics of ecological, agro-ameliorative and relief and climatic components of soils quality class were presented based on the example of the Kherson Region, Ukraine. According to the results soil and climatic quality class determination, it is established that the value of the class varies from 25 to 46 points; the regulatory and monetary value of agricultural land varies from USD 490 per 1 ha for dark chestnut and chestnut alkaline soils up to USD1,360 per ha for ordinary chernozem. According to the results of ecological, agro-ameliorative and climatic soils quality class determination, it is established that the value of the class varies from 6 to 59 points; the regulatory and monetary value of agricultural land varies from USD145 per 1 ha for degraded and highly saline chestnut soils up to USD2,060 per ha for irrigated southern chernozem. The suggested methodology of soil quality class calculation can have multiple purposes. It is intended to be used for different physiographic conditions of land use to develop adaptive soils protection measures at different territorial levels of agricultural production management with the overall objective of ensuring sustainable land use.