SOIL FERTILITY STATE OF THE FOREST-STEP ZONE OF CHERNIVTSI REGION

Abstract

The main indicators of soil fertility are presented based on the results of an agrochemical survey of agricultural lands in the ForestSteppe zone of Chernivtsi region in the XI round (2016–2020). It was found that in terms of soil acidity in the Forest-Steppe zone of the region, lands close to neutral (32.9%) and neutral (49.9%) prevail. The average weighted saline pH is 6.1, which corresponds to a neutral reaction of the soil solution. In terms of humus content, soils with an average content of humus prevail (67.6%), and the average weighted humus content in the Forest-Steppe zone of the region is 2.6%. In terms of easily hydrolyzable nitrogen content, the most lands have very low (61.3%) and low (35.8%) content. The weighted average content of easily hydrolyzed nitrogen for the reporting period is 102.4 mg/kg of soil, which corresponds to a low supply of this element. In the ForestSteppe zone of Chernivtsi region, lands with a high content of mobile phosphorus compounds (35.8%) prevail, and the weighted average content of mobile phosphorus compounds is 130.7 mg/kg, which corresponds to a high supply. In terms of the content of mobile potassium compounds, lands with a very high content (63.3%) prevail, with a weighted average of 197.9 mg/kg of soil, which corresponds to a very high supply of this element. It was found that in the areas of the Forest-Steppe zone of Chernivtsi region, the largest area is occupied by soils of average quality (67.7%), and the weighted average assessment of agricultural lands of the Forest-Steppe zone of Chernivtsi region is 56. A comparison of the qualitative assessment of soils of the ForestSteppe zone of Chernivtsi region was carried out for the X (2011–2015) and XI rounds (2016–2020) of agrochemical surveys. The results showed that the qualitative assessment of the state of the lands of Khotyn and Sokyriany districts significantly improved (+8 and + 19 points), and the qualitative assessment of the soils of Kelmenetsі, Kitsman and Novoselytsіа districts increased by 1–3 points. A decrease in land quality indicators was recorded in Zastavnа district (-3 points).