Qualitative assessment of the soils of agricultural landscapes in Eastern Siberia

Abstract

At the current agricultural stage, the development of new approaches and concepts of agriculture are required for a more effective use of the soils of agricultural landscapes. The concept of adaptive-landscape model of agriculture implies the system of soil use aimed at the production based on available economic and material resources and providing agricultural landscape stability and raised soil fertility recovery. The realization of this model is based on the soil and ecological assessment of soils which involves complex research of all natural components. It presupposes qualitative assessment of soils based on the soil-ecological index (SEI), an approach which reflects the natural potential of agricultural lands in points (from 1 to 100). The resulting SEI is the product of soil, climate and agrochemical indices. The indices were calculated using automated electronic systems (AES) developed on the basis of Microsoft Excel. Agricultural soil bonitet calculations for the territory of Eastern Siberia showed significant fluctuations in the SEI. In Krasnoyarsk krai the SEI equaled 14.67-53.77 points, in Irkutsk oblast – 15.13-38.76 points, and in the Republic of Buryatia – 24.78-44.18 points. The SEI of the chernozems in Krasnodar krai, on the contrary, reaches 100 points. The resulting SEI of the agricultural soils in Krasnoyarsk krai is mainly determined by soil and agrochemical indices. However, climate index is beginning to play a more significant role in relation to agricultural soils when determining their SEI in Irkutsk oblast and the Republic of Buryatia.