V. N. Erkaev, G. S. Velikanova
State Center of Agrochemical Service, “Penzenskii”, ul. Kalinina, 150, Penza, 440034, Russian Federation
Abstract. This study was aimed at analysing the results of an agrochemical survey of farmland in the Penza Region over the period of 50 years. At the beginning of 2017, 53.6%, 36.8% and 9.6% of the arable land here was characterised by a low/very low, medium and above average content of labile phosphorus. The proportion of soils with low/very low, average and above average potassium content constituted 2.9%, 22.3% and 74.8% of arable land respectively. The soil solution of more than half of the arable land area (51.3%) has a weak-acid reaction (pH 5.1–5.5). Soils with a neutral and near-neutral reaction account for 8.0%, while soils with medium-acid (pH 4.6–5.0) and high-acid (pH below 4.5) reactions make up 38.3% and 2.4% of the arable land, respectively. In general, about 600 thousand hectares of arable land in the region require liming. The most intensive increase in the soil phosphorus content and a decrease in soil acidity was noted in the 1980s against the background of high doses of mineral and organic fertilisers as well as lime materials. Throughout the years of the survey, the potassium balance in the agriculture of the region remained negative. An increase in the weighted average content of mobile forms of this element was most likely due to the removal of the least productive land from arable rotation. For the same reason, there was a relatively small (0.2%) decrease in the weighted average content of humus in the soil (as compared to 1989). In order to stabilize soil fertility in the region by 2020, the use of mineral and organic fertilisers (including manure crops and perennial grasses) should be increased to the amount of 85 kg/ha and 2.5 ton/ha, respectively. At least 20 thousand hectares (2% of the acidic soil area) per year should undergo chemical amelioration.
Keywords: topsoil; agrochemical monitoring; humus; fertility; mineral fertilisers; agrochemical characteristics.
Author Details: V. N. Erkaev, Cand. Sc. (Agr.), director (e- mail: Этот адрес электронной почты защищён от спам-ботов. У вас должен быть включен JavaScript для просмотра.); G. S. Velikanova, department manager.
For citation: Erkaev V. N., Velikanova G. S. Monitoring of Arable Land Fertility and the Dynamics of Using Mineral Fertilizers in the Penza Region. Dostizheniya nauki i tekhniki APK. 2019. Vol. 33. No. 4. Pp. 27–30 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.24411/0235-2451-2019-10407.