The Virgin Land megaproject and the Land reform as the global experiment of steppe self-restoration in North Eurasia

Abstract

Among all agrarian-social megaprojects realized in the steppe zone, the Virgin Land [Tselina] (1954-1963) and the Land reform of the 1990s exerted the most considerable influence on the state and properties of current agro-landscapes. It was the projects of opposite orientation which every on its stage set the highest in history pace of the landscape dynamics in the steppe zone. The consistent impact of these megaprojects, one of which practically annihilated steppes, and the other created terms to realize steppe restoration potential, allows considering them in totality as the united experiment of the global scale for revealing and evaluation of steppe self-restoration. Thanks to this experiment in the steppes of Eurasia, new dynamic space – after virgin land was formed. Using new data, including field studies and discovered novel factors, we estimated the Virgin land campaign’s consequences and the Land reform. A further fundamental generalization of these megaprojects’ effects, landscape, and scientific heritage required developing an adaptation of steppe land use was conducted as a response to climatic and other current challenges.