Secondary Salinization of Soils in Russia

Igor Savin,Ekaterina Shishkonakova,Sergey Avetyan

doi:10.1088/1755-1315/690/1/012024

Igor Savin, Ekaterina Shishkonakova + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/690/1/012024

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Abstract

Secondary salinization is one of the most widespread types of soil degradation in Russia. It is most widely spread on irrigated lands in steppe and dry-steppe regions of the country. Based on data obtained over the past 30 years, the database on secondary salinization of soils in Russia has been updated. As a basis the data of the uniform state register of soils of Russia which is completely compatible to a format of the Soil and geographical database of the European Union are used. The information on prevalence of secondary saline soils and secondary sodic soils has been specified. It is shown that in Russia, in contrast to other countries of the world, a greater danger is secondary sodification of soils. The results are presented as vector layers in geoinformation format.

Highlights

The mankind faced with the anthropogenic-initiated salinization in soils already at the dawn of agriculture, which historically emerged in relatively favourable conditions of subtropical, subhumid climate on fertile lands of river valleys
Pankova, according to which the greatest damage to irrigated areas with respect to secondary salinization was caused in the 60-70s, when drainage was poorly used, and construction and commissioning of irrigation systems were not supported by sufficient information on soil properties and landscape features of territories
Our results show that the greatest development of secondary sodification of soils reaches Volgograd (14% of soils) and Saratov (10% of soils) regions

Summary

Introduction

The mankind faced with the anthropogenic-initiated salinization in soils already at the dawn of agriculture, which historically emerged in relatively favourable conditions of subtropical, subhumid climate on fertile lands of river valleys. In Russia, traditionally since the times of the USSR, the problems of secondary salinization of soils have been given considerable attention, taking into account the scale of irrigation construction in the second half of XX century. The innovative approach to the problem at that time, made it possible to develop a very convincing idea of the essence of the mechanism of salt migration and accumulation in soil, to develop recommendations for preventing and combating secondary salinization [3]. The social and economic problems facing the post-Soviet Russia did not allow the state to fully concentrate efforts on the development of the scientific base of agriculture, which entailed a growing shortage of primary data on the soils and significantly slowed down the development of ideas about the changing characteristics of natural and anthropogenic landscapes. We have made an attempt to update information on secondary salinization of soils in Russia

Object and Methods

Results and Discussion

Conclusion