Analysis of sapropel stocks in Ukraine as an alternative raw material for organic fertilizers

Abstract

Deposits of non-metallic mineral sapropel on the territory of Ukraine, groups of development of deposits as perspective for extraction and application in agriculture have been estimated. The system approaches, comparative analysis and generalizations have been used. 309 out of 351 sapropel deposits with total reserves of over 91 million tons have been explored in Ukraine, which is an important natural resource of raw materials for many sectors of the economy (agriculture, medicine, cosmetology). The main resources of lake sapropel deposits are concentrated in the west of Ukraine in the reservoirs of Volyn and Rivne regions, which account for 76% and 8.4% of all-Ukrainian reserves, respectively. 73,706 thousand tons of sapropel deposits have been explored on 191 lakes of Volyn region by categories A + C1 + C2, of which the balance reserves are 66,871 thousand tons, off-balance ones are 6,835 thousand tons. 164 deposits are promising for exploration of sapropel deposits, including: Volyn region — 77 deposits, Sumy region — 49, Kharkiv region — 22, Rivne region — 14, Chernihiv region — 2 deposits. According to forecast estimates, 61 sapropel deposits with an area of 5,912.5 hectares with reserves of 83,558,000 tons are known in Ukraine. In agriculture, sapropel has been used as an organic fertilizer in small amounts in recent years, accounting for 0.16% of total organic fertilizers. Most sapropel is applied to the soil in the Volyn region — 9.76 thousand tons, which is 58% of the total amount of sapropel. Sapropel is used almost equally in the cultivation of cereals, legumes and industrial crops.