Ukrainian soil begins to lose fertility

This was stated by Alexander Ivaschenko, chief researcher of bio-energy crops and sugar beet of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine. Behind his words, for twenty years, the level of humus in Ukrainian soil decreased from 3.5% to 3%.

All because of, according to him, the desire of farmers to earn as much as possible, despite the depletion of the soil. As Ivaschenko said, farmers do not use sevozameny, do not grow in addition to high-marginal and expensive crops, plants that would be primarily useful for the land itself. Nitrogen-containing peas, soybeans, or millet, at the moment, are unprofitable to grow, because the demand for them will be much less than for sunflower seeds or wheat.

Also, for his opinion, the problem of low fertility of the land is the complete lack of control over the planting zones in the fields. It is the forest plantations, which are now being actively cut down for the sake of firewood, that are an indispensable help to the soil, protecting it from winds and erosion.

In order for the lands not to lose fertility, the expert argues, special services should be put into operation that would monitor the quality of the soil and its content, as in the countries of the European Union.