Study of the Ecological and Reclamation Condition of Abandoned Saline Lands and Their Development for Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

To provide the population with food, it is very important to re-cultivate “abandoned lands” that have been retired from agricultural use. The conversion of arable land into agricultural abandoned lands in the south of Kazakhstan is, first of all, primarily associated with salinity. For the purposes of sustainable development, there is a need to develop proposals for re-mastering by studying their current state and reviewing world studies on the reclamation of salt-affected soils. Therefore, this study is devoted to the study of the current environmental and reclamation conditions of the abandoned areas of the Otyrar region in southern Kazakhstan. The proposed directions of changes in their development were also presented. In the course of the research, the historical method is used in the study of the emergence and formation of abandoned lands; the method of geographical analysis during the territorial analysis of the research object; the statistical and comparison methods in showing the complexity and intensity of the problems; the cartographic, geo-informational and field research (reconnaissance) methods in the study of the condition of the abandoned lands in the research object and methods of grouping and analysis were used in the work with scientific data on the topic of research. Using Sentinel-2 images, the GIS program created phenological dynamics of crops based on NDVI vegetation indices during the vegetation period of the irrigated range. By classifying them, abandoned lands due to salinization were separated from fields. By deciphering space images with the help of geoinformation technologies, it was revealed that the area of abandoned lands in the research object is 13,688.9 ha, including the area of non-saline soils—83.9 ha, weakly saline soils—984.4 ha, medium saline soils—2398.3 ha, and highly saline soils—10,222.1 ha. A review of the methods and technologies proposed by scientists for the development and amelioration of salt-affected lands was made. Taking into account the ecological and reclamation state of the object of research along with the material and technical capabilities of farms, two methods of developing abandoned lands (organic and agro-innovative) in the research object are proposed and the need for their use in case of soil salinization has been scientifically justified.