Virgin Land Research Articles

СТРАТЕГИЧЕСКИЕ ВЕКТОРЫ РАЗВИТИЯ АГРАРНОГО СЕКТОРА РФ

Over the past century, the directions of agricultural development have radically changed. In the first half of the twentieth century, the main problem was the fight against hunger, providing the population with bread. Interruptions in the supply of bread in 1917 caused riots and led to the February Revolution in Russia. In the early 20s, in order to fight hunger, a new economic policy was introduced, which gave the peasants the opportunity to restore agriculture. At the end of the 1920s, collectivization, started with the aim of increasing agricultural production to meet the country’s growing urban population and the raw materials needs of industry, turned into a new hunger, the elimination of which was the most important task of collective farms. After World War II, in 1946, there was hunger again, and the post-war restoration of agriculture was aimed at overcoming it. The ambitious program for the development of virgin lands in the 1950s was also primarily aimed at achieving a sustainable bread supply for the population. Crop failure in 1963-1964 once again put the country on the brink of hunger. The problem was solved by importing grain from other countries. In the 1990s, the problem of food supply arose again. This was due not to a shortage of food, but to the low incomes of a large part of the Russian population. The dynamically changing macroeconomic conditions make their own adjustments to the prioritization of directions for the development of agriculture in Russia. In the agricultural sector, a number of documents have been developed that reflect the promising directions for the development of the industry [1, 2]. The implementation of the goals and objectives of the long-term development of the agrarian sector of the Russian economy will be largely determined by both the macroeconomic situation in the country and the significant improvement in climate in international cooperation. The article discusses the key vectors of development of the agricultural sector in modern conditions. An economic assessment of the state of implementation of these areas is given, their positive and negative sides are noted.

Assessing the Environmental Impact of the Intensification of Agricultural Production

The article presents the results and consequences of the intensification of agricultural production over the past decades. The aim of the study is to assess the environmental consequences of the intensification of agricultural production, as well as the land and agrarian reforms, in particular, the consequences of the development of virgin and fallow lands. The article presents the emerged dilemma of further development of agricultural production and preservation of the natural environment as the basis for the life of future generations, which predetermined the search for alternative development options for the industry. At the present stage of development of agricultural production, one of the main tasks is to optimize the use of land resources and to choose methods that ensure the stability of functioning of agricultural landscapes in accordance with their natural properties. The fallow land area for agricultural use in Russia is more than 30 million hectares. This concerns, first of all, arable land, subject to wind and water erosion, left to be used as fallow land in difficult socio-economic conditions during the years of reform.

CHUVASH POPULATION DYNAMICS IN THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN

The authors of the article consider the issues of the Chuvash diaspora in Kazakhstan. Historically, the Chuvash were settled in different regions of the republic. There were several reasons for the Chuvash to relocate to Kazakhstan – industrialization, the development of virgin lands. However, with the collapse of the USSR and the changed socio-economic and political living conditions, the number of Chuvashs living in the Republic of Kazakhstan decreases every year. In the 90s of the twentieth century. Since the mid-1990s, cultural centers have opened in places of compact residence of the Chuvash in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in the city of Almaty, Pavlodar, Chuvash cultural centers were established. Like any ethnos, living outside their historical homeland strive to preserve their language, traditions and customs. Today, the Chuvash diaspora, despite its small number in Kazakhstan, is trying to preserve its culture, language, and maintains contact with the Chuvash Republic. This desire is strong among the elderly part of the Chuvash diaspora, who do not plan to change their place of residence. However, the young Chuvash, in families with low income, the inherent desire to leave to study, stay to work and live in Russia.

Deep Integration: A Multi-Label Architecture for Road Scene Recognition.

Deep convolutional neural networks have been applied by automobile industries, Internet giants, and academic institutes to boost autonomous driving technologies; while progress has been witnessed in environmental perception tasks, such as object detection and driver state recognition, the scene-centric understanding and identification still remain a virgin land. This mainly encompasses two key issues: 1) the lack of shared large datasets with comprehensively annotated road scene information and 2) the difficulty to find effective ways to train networks concerning the bias of category samples, image resolutions, scene dynamics, and capturing conditions. In this paper, we make two contributions: 1) we introduce a large-scale dataset with over 110 k images, dubbed DrivingScene, covering traffic scenarios under different weather conditions, road structures, and environmental instances and driving places, which is the first large-scale dataset for multi-class traffic scenes classification and 2) we propose a multi-label neural network for road scene recognition, which incorporates both single- and multi-class classification modes into a multi-level cost function for training with imbalanced categories and utilizes a deep data integration strategy to improve the classification ability on hard samples. The experimental results on DrivingScene and PASCAL VOC demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in handling the challenge of data imbalance.

THE CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABILITY FROM AN ARCHITECTUIRAL VIEW

Libya is considered a virgin land for sustained development, and with its small population, the country’s productivity and consumption are still insignificant. Libya’s architectural heritage, which remains untainted by the pollution problems which plague more industrial countries. The most important problems facing the country are desertification and limited water supply. The failure of the Libyan State to enact laws to address these problems has contributed to their increase.
 This article deals with the concept of sustainability and its relation to the architecture science and its intellectual and cultural dimensions. In addition, the local efforts in Libya that aim to set up a local plan for coping with the international efforts and the resulting work rules regarding this concern. The researcher used the literature review as a method to focus on the pervious points. This study arrived at an important recommendation that the Libyan authorities should focus on the importance of developing educational curricula especially in the field of architectural engineering and urban planning so as to cope with the theories and principles of sustainable architecture.

The daily life in the virgin and fallow lands in 1954–1964

Based on the records of management documentation, periodicals, memoirs of contemporaries, the article presents an overall picture of the daily life of virgin lands (tselina). The study showed that upon arrival to the new land volunteers were often forced to live in the severe conditions of lack of infrastructure. They had to live in tents or field trailers. At the same time, settlers themselves could improve their living conditions by building state-farm (sovkhoz) settlements. Such work required a lot of effort. The average working time was 12–14 hours a day, regardless of the age, length of service and experience of a volunteer who arrived to the virgin lands. Earnings ranged between 500–1400 rubles per month in average. Food supply system in the new land development areas was essential to support the physical strength of the volunteers. However, as contemporaries remember, the food was unsatisfactory. The diet, as a rule, was monotonous, in view of which workers often staged strikes. In the end, gradually the infrastructure in the virgin lands acquired the level usual for the Central Russia. In particular, leisure time outside the virgin lands was spent in cinemas, clubs, libraries, amateur circles, holding sports competitions. However, social security was in poor condition as well as medical care. Not all medical centers worked; there was a constant lack of doctors, which led to increased injuries. Many volunteers who came to the new lands had no experience in agriculture – in this regard, medicine played an important role in the daily life of virgin lands. New settlers also faced a number of problems, which led to disruption of the usual daily life. In particular, cases of hooliganism caused by alcoholism, fights with lethal outcomes were frequent in the new lands. The indigenous population was often hostile to visitors. In addition, the residents of virgin lands were harmed by the military, who conducted nuclear weapons tests in the vicinity of new farms. In the end, the new settlers were able to cope with the difficulties they were facing and in a short time established a large-scale production of grain crops. Due to this, the country was able to temporarily overcome the food issue that had become urgent in the post-war period. Key words: living conditions, working process, wages, leisure, daily life, virgin and fallow lands.

Tselina: The photographical practices of perception

The paper presents the results of an experimental study on practices in visual anthropology based on photographs made by amateur authors during an expedition to «Tselina» (virgin lands) in Orenburg Oblast. The study considers photographs both in their representative aspect and as a material for the enquiry on perspectives, behavior and attitudes of amateur photographers and their models in historical, anthropological and visual contexts. The article analyzes the interaction between interview and photography practices, along with the ethos of photographer – model encounter, paying attention to ways of seeing particularities both determined by cultural and historical differences. Such an optics aimed at the visual material obtained during the expedition allows examining of typical images of the Soviet ‘Tselina’ campaign in the light of historical memory, which manifests itself in an impact of aesthetical registers and visual practices of the three parts of the process: the anthropologist, the photographer and the model. Key words: visual anthropology, anthropology of the image, visual history, historical memory, amateur photography, field practice, «Tselina».

Effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment in the Czech Republic

ABSTRACTThe widespread application of SEA over the last 15 years in the Czech Republic has allowed for a gradual accommodation of SEA procedural steps into the standard bureaucratic routine of public authorities. In this paper, we discuss results of a small-scale survey among Czech SEA practitioners focusing on issues related to the effectiveness and efficiency of the SEA. The results suggest a moderate progress driven primarily by the accumulation of practical experience among both SEA consultants and the planners, and there is certainly no shortage of examples where SEA positively affected a plan. On the other hand, continuation of many negative general environmental trends (e.g. excessive conversion of virgin land for development, continuation of environmentally harmful agriculture and forestry policies, etc.) seem to conform the notion that the SEA, as currently practiced, in the Czech Republic fails to deliver to its full potential.

Soil-to-cassava plant transfer factor of natural radionuclides on a mining impacted soil in a tropical ecosystem of Nigeria

The transfer factors (TFs) of naturally occurring radionuclides, 238U and 232Th from soil to different cassava plant compartments were calculated. Cassava is widely cultivated in Nigeria and contributes significantly to the food supply of the nation. There is sparsity of data on the TFs in Nigeria, and no TF data from any African country were included in the International Atomic Energy Agency's compilation of TFs for the tropical ecosystem. Samples of tin tailings and soil samples from virgin land were used to formulate three soil groups; group-A (soil from virgin land only), group-B (tailings only) and group-C (equal dry mass combination of tailings and soil from virgin land). Pot experiments were set up to determine the TFs of 238U and 232Th. The activity concentrations of 238U and 232Th in the dried samples of the soil and plant compartments were determined using a sodium iodide detector. The TF of 238U ranged from below detection limit (BDL) to 0.01 in the tuber samples, BDL to 0.23 in the stem samples and BDL to 0.90 in the leaf samples, while the TF of 232Th ranged between 0.006 and 0.49 for tuber samples, 0.03 and 0.65 in stem samples and 0.03 and 1.54 in the leaf samples. There were significant difference in the TF of 238U and 232Th between the soil groups. The leaf compartment generally had most of the highest TF values while the tuber samples had most of the lowest TF values for both radionuclides.

Conservation tillage in steppe and forest-steppe of the Central Siberia

Исследования проводились в степной зоне Минусинской впадины и лесостепи Алтайского Приобья. В статье представлены результаты исследований противоэрозионной эффективности приёмов биологизации земледелия и технологий обработки почвы. Были проанализированы многолетние данные научных учреждений, расположенных в разных агроэкологических условиях в лесостепном и степном агроландшафтных районах. Длительные полевые опыты по изучению и сравнительной оценке технологий обработки почвы в сидеральных парах показали неодинаковую почвозащитную эффективность в разных почвенно-климатических условиях Средней Сибири. В степном агроландшафтном районе на эрозионно опасных землях для повышения почвозащитной роли сидеральных паров целесообразно применение плоскорезной обработки, позволяющей сохранить растительные остатки на поверхности почвы. При такой обработке выноса мелкозёма ветром на чернозёмах не наблюдалось, а при запашке вынос составил 2,5–8,1 т/га в год. В лесостепном агроландшафтном районе на склоновых землях оставленная в зиму стерня позволяла практически полностью предотвратить весенний смыв. Количество дней с пыльными бурями после освоения целинных и залежных земель в Хакасии в 1961–1965 годах достигало 5–13, в настоящее время при уменьшении площади сильноэродированной пашни и увеличения объёмов залежных земель пыльные бури прекратились. Парозанимающая культура (овёс летнего срока сева), а на склоновых землях осеннее мульчирование рапсом полностью предотвращали весенний смыв почвы. Выход зерна с 1 га севооборотной площади при запашке донника и плоскорезной обработке почвы почти одинаковый: соответственно 1,64 и 1,76 т/га. Investigations took place in the steppe of Minusinsk Hollow and forest-steppe of the Ob region in Altai. The article reports on antierosion practices and tillage technologies. Investigations analyzed the data of long-term experiments targeting different ecological conditions in forest-steppe and steppe regions. Long-term field trials showed unequal soil-protecting effect of different tillage technologies in various soil-climatic zones of the Central Siberia under green-manured fallow. To increase soil-protecting influence of green-manured fallow in the steppe plowing is necessary that allows preservation of plant residues on soil surface. Such a practice prevented fine soil from being blown-away by wind while plowing under resulted in fine soil removal of 2.5–8.1 t ha-1 per year. In the forest-steppe crop residues left over winter almost completely prevented soil outwash on slope lands in spring. Number of days with dust storms reached 5–13 in Khakassia in 1961–1965 after virgin and long-fallow land cultivation. Nowadays decrease in high-eroded land area and increase of long-fallow lands stopped dust storms. Fallow crop (spring oats) and top manuring of slope soil by rapeseed in autumn prevented soil washout in spring. Grain yield made up 1.64 and 1.76 t ha-1 when plowing under melilot and soil plowing, respectively.

A Study on the Application of Input Hypothesis in English Teaching of Junior High School

Since Input Hypothesis was proposed, it has attracted the attention of domestic and foreign linguists. However, Input Hypothesis is still a “virgin land” in the teaching practices of primary and high schools. This paper aims to investigate the teaching of junior high school English so as to find out the applications of Input Hypothesis in junior high school English teaching and then propose a series of strategies that can be applied in junior high school English classes in accordance with the four principles of Input Hypothesis. The study was carried out in seventh grade of a junior high school. The researchers observed the English lessons of two classes in seventh grade for three months, analyzed the teaching plans and interviewed the teacher of the two classes. This paper found out that many teaching strategies that the teacher used are theoretically related to Input Hypothesis. However, the teacher has never learned about this theory. In order to bridge the gap between Input Hypothesis and English teaching in junior high school, this paper explained four principles of this hypothesis and put forward some possible strategies. This paper hopes to make contributions to the application of linguistic theories in English teaching og junior high school and urge teachers to equip themselves with these theories.

ІНФОРМАТИВНІСТЬ МАГНІТНИХ МЕТОДІВ ПРИ МОНІТОРИНГУ ПРИРОДНО-ТЕХНОГЕННИХ ПРОЦЕСІВ, ЯКІ ПОВ'ЯЗАНІ З ОБ'ЄКТАМИ КРИТИЧНОЇ ІНФРАСТРУКТУРИ

Presented are the results of research studies with the attracting of the GIS and geophysical methods for solving the problems of monitoring of dangerous natural and man-made processes at the areas of the critical infrastructure objects location. The possible ways of the magnetic methods applied for the critical infrastructure objects monitoring were considered. The natural and man-made processes associated with the critical infrastructure were defined. Among them are the objects that can influence the changes in soils, atmospheric air composition, as well as near-surface geological horizons. The most important objects are the energy enterprises, chemical industry, transport network, and landslide areas. The "Rzhyshchev" section and the "Grebeni" site were used as testing objects of the landslide critical infrastructure. According to the results of processing of cosmoimages and measurements of lateral and vertical distributions of magnetic susceptibility of soils and near-surface geological horizons, the classification of territory risks has been carried out. The territory of the cliff on the slopes of the Dnieper is the most potentially dangerous. Anthropogenically impacted natural and man-made territory of the field road and private economy has received an average category of risks. The most risky part of the site are the elements of the landscape, which are located on the land with a minimum slope, the absence of anthropogenic loading, agricultural land and virgin land. Magnetic methods proved to be rapid, effective and low-cost technology for the study of natural and man-made processes associated with objects of critical infrastructure. The integration with other geophysical, soil science methods, and GIS technologies are required.

Building New China, Colonizing Kokonor: Resettlement to Qinghai in the 1950s by Gregory Rohlf

Reviewed by: Building New China, Colonizing Kokonor: Resettlement to Qinghai in the 1950s by Gregory Rohlf Xiangli Ding Gregory Rohlf. Building New China, Colonizing Kokonor: Resettlement to Qinghai in the 1950s. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2016. 301 pp. $100.00 (cloth), $48.99 (paper). In this ambitious monograph, Gregory Rohlf illustrates the rationales for and tensions throughout the movement to resettle Qinghai in the 1950s. As state-building efforts, the resettlement and reclamation programs aimed to increase agricultural production and consolidate the Communist state’s frontier control. Yet few resettlers remained in Qinghai, proving that the Communist state’s assimilation of rural Qinghai had failed in the 1950s. Rohlf starts with Sun Yat-sen’s call for colonization of the Northeast and Northwest of China in 1920. Under the Nationalist government, cultivated lands had been doubled in Qinghai by the 1940s. In the 1950s, the Chinese Communist state continued this practice at an unprecedented scale and pace. A variety of push factors formed the mechanism for the state-sponsored resettlement to the frontier regions in the 1950s. According to Rohlf, those factors included social welfare resettlement of the poor and veterans, reservoir displacement, deployment of soldiers and prisoners, and ethnic discrimination against Hui, a Muslim minority in China. Rohlf incisively points out that many of those resettlements were not explicitly designed to consolidate state power in border regions. In particular, he uses reservoir displacement in Henan to exemplify local government’s incentive “to make local problems disappear” (51). In 1956, more than 70% of resettlers were Hui Muslims from North China (54). However, due to restricted access to relevant archival documents, the author remains ambivalent about whether targeting Hui people was a provincial initiative or a policy made by the central government. Considering its wide practice in multiple provinces, it seems more likely to have been a policy from the top. In chapter 2, through analysis of the Communist state’s administrative structure, Rohlf identifies three streams of agricultural resettlement to border areas: the Ministry of Agriculture’s state-owned farms, the Ministry of the Interior’s social welfare programs, and the laogai (劳改 reeducation through labor) system’s exile of political prisoners. Rohlf argues that these three streams were “brought together to protect and expand Chinese sovereignty through farm settlements” (70). Unsurprisingly, the resettlement program in the 1950s was also subject to influence from the Soviet Union. Rohlf reveals that the resettlement organized by the Communist Youth League was a brainchild of Hu Yaobang, who was directly inspired by Nikita Khrushchev’s Virgin Lands program. More importantly, the agricultural resettlement program worked in close connection with other projects in Qinghai. It was designed to produce grain for several key projects, such as the building of a railroad and 221 nuclear labs in Haiyan County. It would have been fascinating if Rohlf had fleshed out this part of the story further.1 Furthermore, Rohlf strives to find the personal agency of those resettlers who participated in the state-sponsored resettlement of Qinghai. Many youth team members believed state propaganda and were willing to settle in the most disadvantaged places for the sake of the country. Other invisible factors, such as political and peer pressures and [End Page E-19] curiosity about the outside world, also drove them to leave their homes. As to the majority of the rural resettlers, however, because of the lack of memoirs and other historical records, Rohlf reminds us that it is hard to provide a complete “grassroots” explanation of their incentives for joining the resettlement. The next two chapters provide a more grassroots narrative of the resettlement process. Chapter 3 examines the response of local people in Qinghai to the state-sponsored resettlement. The cost of resettlement was not fully covered by the government. Instead, Qinghai locals were under pressure to provide household necessities and food to newcomers. Moreover, collectivization in the 1950s complicated the resettlement process. In contrast to the hospitality and harmony depicted in official narratives, many locals worried that resettlers would squander their already limited resources. For example, “a vice co-op chief destroyed kang beds in his home, leading others in the co-op to do the same or move into hitherto...

Ideological foundations of exclusive development of the National State of Ukraine

Сurrent article, probably for the first time, analyzes the model of state-building, where the nation is considered to be conscious of its national idea of the future development. It argues that based on this Idea, the stratagems for building a nation-state of indigenous people with all the proper attributes are being developed. The title nation living in this state has an exclusive (exceptional) natural, cultural, religious and historical right to self-determination and protection. The paper notes that in a process of elimination of imperial assimilation barriers, these stratagems perform three fundamental and at the same time interrelated functions of spiritual revival: consolidation of the nation, its identification and integration into a civilized world. Everything impeding the realization of these core functions for national progress is stressed to be a remnant of the hostile neighbourhood of the past, which contemporaries must not keep for the future generation to attain a better future. In this context, an integrated approach to the National Idea is proposed as a set of integral stratagems of national progress, which made it possible to highlight the corresponding priorities of building a national state in each block of stratagems. For example, in the unity bloc - to return the peace and integrity of the country; in the defense of “ukrainianness” – not only to adopt, but also actually implement the law on the Ukrainian language, speed up de-communization, strengthen security in particularly in the national information space. As for the “dignity” bloc, one should not only “not embrace”, but also adhere to the vector of civilizational development, achieve admission to NATO, the EU, achieve high socio-economic living standards of people of developed countries, indicators of their well-being and recreation, protect their health; and at the same time - develop their own strength and resources. The achievement of the planned indicators before Ukraine admittance to NATO and EU, which constitute its homework, affects not only the named blocks of stratagems, but also the structure of global and regional factors, exclusive barriers that still lie in the field of Ukrainian studies of virgin land. In the paper the conclusion is made that in the conditions of an aggressive external environment and continued imperial support of the “fifth columns” in Ukraine - this poses a great danger to state sovereignty, national identity and European-NATO integration. Moreover, further disregard for them is deadly as a continuation of any war and imperial assimilation. In the circumstances of the hybrid war of Russia against Ukraine, it is vital for a person individually, existentially for a nation as a social community of people and globally dangerous for the development of the cultural diversity of humanity as a whole. Comprehensive account of these, triple-connected processes, is of great importance for developing an effective road map for the ultimate exit of Kyiv from the orbit of Moscow’s imperial claims, enhancing the self-exclusive subjectivity of Ukraine, and accelerating its accession to the number of free countries of the world.

Study on Rural Environment Design Based on Public Art Aesthetics Perspective

It has put forward the beautiful rural construction in the report delivered at the18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China after the high speed urbanization and modern urban environment construction. With profound cultural deposits, the rural area is the virgin land of regional feature and local civilization and also the source of beautiful homesickness. However, the rural public art is an important symbol and reflection of rural mature development. This paper analyzes the existing problems of rural environmental engineering construction and puts forward the corresponding solutions and development strategies on the basis of the rural public art and practical significance, thus opening up the new thinking for the design and construction rural environment engineering.

Norme I zahtevi za ispiranje soli slanih zemljišta zapadne Nubian Doline reke Nil (severni Sudan)

This paper is deducted to the theoretical studies and experimental determination of optimum leaching requirements for salt-affected lands of West Nubian Valley of Nile River, having different mechanical and chemical properties. Based on reviewing various references, summarizing the date obtained from the detailed field as well as from productive area experiments when reclaiming the first stage virgin land site West Nubian Experimental station to the objective, was to find the answer to the following important problems: - What proper parameters of leaching checks, leaching borders and specific water discharge amount should be from the view point of a rational usage of a single cubic of water, labor power economy, expenditures, machinery and time? - When leaching should be started and completed in order to perform all pre-sawing practices in time for succeeding in cultivating summer crops. - What kinds of well-known theoretical relationships can be used to determine leaching requirement for salt-effected lands under the observed conditions. - Find out the most appropriate equations which can be applied for predictive evaluation when designing optimum leaching requirements for the part of West Nubian Valley (North Sudan). - Upon the study a different drain spacing calculation as well as adequate leaching infractures and land preparation took place, taking the proper soil management practice to be performed in time. - For predictive estimation of leaching requirement values the use of Volobuev's equation have been recommended, with "𝛼" values: 1.27, 1.03, and 0.66 for heavy, medium and light soils respectively.

Структурні реформи в агровиробництві і зовнішня торгівля продовольством: український досвід 1950–1960-х років

The article is devoted to the problem of revealing peculiarities of mutual influence and interdependence of changes in the economic structure of Ukraine and its participation in international economic relations at different stages of historical development. The purpose of the study is to summarize the historical and economic generalization of the experience of structural transformation in domestic agriculture from 1950 to 1960 in the context of foreign trade in food. It was revealed that the political need to resume bread exports after World War II was an important reason for the beginning of the reform of Soviet crisis-hit agriculture. The main directions of reforms are identified, such as the increase of public investments in the development of agrarian industry, reduction of taxes on producers, increase in state procurement prices for agricultural products, expansion of the acreage through the development of virgin lands, sharp increase in corn output, and advanced development of animal husbandry. It was found that the reduction of administrative pressure on producers, their increased material incentives and improvement of technical support of the enterprises caused a temporary economic recovery in the agrarian sector. It is proved that the curtailment of this policy due to the lack of domestic sources of financing and the predominance of extensive forms of management led to a slowdown in the development of agriculture, an increase in its crisis phenomena and the formation of dependence on food imports. Proposals are made on possible directions of using elements of historical experience gained in contemporary economic policy of Ukraine.

ПАРАДИГМА ИНТЕНСИФИКАЦИИ АГРОПРОМЫШЛЕННОГО ПРОИЗВОДСТВА: ОПЫТ ЦЕЛИННОЙ ЭПОПЕИ И ЕГО ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЕ В СОВРЕМЕННЫХ УСЛОВИЯХ ХОЗЯЙСТВОВАНИЯ

ПАРАДИГМА ИНТЕНСИФИКАЦИИ АГРОПРОМЫШЛЕННОГО ПРОИЗВОДСТВА: ОПЫТ ЦЕЛИННОЙ ЭПОПЕИ И ЕГО ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЕ В СОВРЕМЕННЫХ УСЛОВИЯХ ХОЗЯЙСТВОВАНИЯ

Діяльність Аджамської дослідної станції в контексті організації наукового забезпечення північного Степу України (1912-1932 рр.)

In the process of researches, it was established that one of the main premises for the becoming of an agricultural experimental business in the northern part of Kherson province was solving the issue of improving use of lands caused by uncontrolled destruction of virgin lands and non-observance of crop rotations, which affected black soil fertility. Among the main tasks of the Adzhams`ka Experimental Station, which began its activity in 1912, was the search for the best methods of field culture in the conditions of the northern part of the Kherson province. The solution of these problems was carried out by studying the effect of black and cropped fallow on the formation of productivity of grain crops and fodder crops and justifying the optimal time for sowing, seeding rates and applying different doses of organic and mineral fertilizers. It has been established that the distinctive features of activity of the Adzhams`ka Experimental Station from similar research institutions of Ukraine were: a highly specialized areas of ​​researches; a small number of scientific departments and workers; the location of the zone of the northern Steppe of Ukraine on the verge of several large provinces (Kherson, Kiyv, Katery`noslavs`k, Poltava, Podil`s`k), which in the first third of the XX century caused frequent changes in administrative subordination. The scientific work of the Ajamskaya Experimental station was based on the study of the influence on winter, spring and fodder crops of various predecessors, methods and terms of sowing, cropping systems, varietal assortment of agricultural crops. Beside, researches were carried out on the application of organic and mineral fertilizers, were studied the number of little known and infrequent plants , and testing of agricultural machinery and equipment, in particular those produced by the Yelisavetgrad Plant of Elvorti brothers. The main conclusions of the department of field crop cultivation, which were made on the results of the experiments in 1912-1931 became the statement that black fallow was the best way to increase the yield of winter grain crops, despite the fact that the depth of the fallow was not essential for sowing of winter crops, and organic fertilizer was a powerful mean of increasing the yield of agricultural crops. The dissemination and popularization of the research results by the application department of the Adzhams`ka Experimental Station was one of the first steps towards the transfer of agriculture in the region to scientific support.

Spatiotemporal transition of institutional and socioeconomic impacts on vegetation productivity in Central Asia over last three decades

Central Asia experienced substantial institutional and socioeconomic changes during the last few decades, especially the Soviet Union collapse in 1991. It remains unclear how these profound changes impacted vegetation productivity across space and time. This study used the satellite-derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and gridded climate data to examine the institutional and socioeconomic impacts on vegetation productivity in Central Asia in 1982–2015. The improved Residual Trend (ResTREND) algorithm was used to calculate NDVI residuals (NDVIres) that reflect the impacts of human factors by excluding the influences of multiple climate factors. Our results showed that 45.7% of the vegetated areas experienced significant transitions (p < 0.05) in NDVIres with turning point (TP), of which 83.8% occurred after 1992 except for the Aral Sea Basin. During the pre-TP period, positive NDVIres (i.e., positive impact) and increasing trends (i.e., positive tendency) were predominant, accounting for 31.6% and 16.5% of the vegetated land, respectively. This was attribute to the expanded cultivation due to Virgin Lands Campaign in North Kazakhstan region and the Amu Darya and Syr Darya Basins. However, the institutional and socioeconomic changes largely suppressed vegetation productivity. In the post-TP period, only 7.0% of the vegetated lands experienced an increasing trend in NDVIres, while NDVIres decline accounted for 20.1% of the vegetated areas (p < 0.05), mainly distributed in northern Kazakhstan and large areas in the Amu Darya and Syr Darya Basins. Positive transitions resulted from the changes in crop types, decreases in grazing pressure, and increases in water resources, whereas negative transitions were coincident with areas that saw land abandonment, water resource shortages, and soil salinization due to former intensive cultivation. These findings highlight the spatiotemporal changes of institutional and socioeconomic impacts on vegetation productivity in Central Asian dryland and provide implications for future dryland management and restoration efforts.