Analysis of Information Support for the Condition of Soil Resources in Ukraine

Abstract

The contemporary condition of soil cover in Ukraine is characterized. The attention is focused onto widespread degradation processes in soils. The causes that determine the development of these negative processes are considered. The contemporary informational support for the condition of soil cover in Ukraine is estimated. In general, the current available information is of narrow-departmental nature, obtained by different methods and non-correlated monitoring programs. As a rule, it is stored in under-structured databases, incompatible with other information systems; mainly recorded on paper media unusable with modern technologies, whereby such information resources are diffi cult to be compiled together. These disadvantages are strong constraints against consistent usage of materials for evaluation, forecast and management of changes in the soil cover. The Soil Observation program should thereby be combined with Agrochemical Passportization and ecology-ameliora- tive monitoring; in other words, the application of innovative soil-agrochemical methodology is considered. Each individual type of surveys shall complement the others, and taken altogether, they shall constitute a con- sistent Information System, capable of solving the problems of assessing the condition, forecasting, manage- ment, usage and protection of soil resources. The monitoring procedures should be conducted on the basis of a new soil concept in line with unifi ed programs and methods, so as to meet European approaches to the maxi- mum extent. Such a technical composition enables getting information on present-day processes in soils, and is the only combination that actually helps us to “ecologize” our knowledge of soils, which is the leading trend in the scope of global soil-science. Thus obtained results will serve as a State-owned tool which would subse- quently facilitate the use and protection of soil resources all over the country, to be involved in a united global soil-information scope. The attention is focused onto social signifi cance of the information on soils and their fertility in terms of land resources optimization, as well as the formation of sustainable land use in Ukraine.