METHOD OF ACCOUNTING SOIL-AGROCHEMICAL POTENTIAL FOR OPTIMIZING THE STRUCTURE OF LAND USE OF THE VOLOZHINSK DISTRICT OF THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS

Abstract

The article discusses one of the ways to assess the condition of soil cover to improve the efficiency of land management using the example of the Volozhin region of the Republic of Belarus. A comprehensive assessment of the agrochemical and natural potential of the soil is proposed by means of typing the soil cover depending on agrochemical indicators (pHKCl, humus content, mobile compounds of phosphorus and potassium) and a quality score reflecting the natural state of the soil. Using geostatistical methods, the values of agrochemical indicators were interpolated from elementary areas into areas of soil varieties of agricultural lands and classified according to the degree of content of agrochemical elements that made up the agrochemical potential (AP). After crossing the AP with the bonitet score, 9 groups of soils were identified according to soil-agrochemical potential (SAP), of which the largest share (58,2 %) is occupied by soils with average potential (61,950 ha). Based on the results of a spatial assessment of the PAP, it was determined that sod-podzolic and sod-podzolic swampy soils developing on light loams and cohesive sandy loams have the greatest potential. It was also revealed that areas with low PAP gravitate towards the most dissected areas of the terrain with sandy and cohesive sandy soils. Based on the typification carried out, the main types of preferred land use in the Volozhin region were determined: more than half of the agricultural land can be used for intensive agricultural use for arable land (52,1 %) and meadows (12,5 %), traditional land use is possible for 29,3 % territories and only 6,2 % of lands require the use of soil protection farming systems, primarily focused on erosion-hazardous areas of the area.