Soil fertility state of the foothill zone in Chernivtsi region

The results of the agrochemical survey of agricul­tural lands of the foothill zone of Chernivtsi region in the XI round (2016–2020) are given. It was es­tablished that in terms of soil acidity in the foothill zone of the region, weakly acidic soils (35.8%) and soils close to neutral (34.0%) prevail. The weighted ave­rage saline pH corresponds to a close to neutral re­action of the soil solution and is 5.6 units. Compared to the previous round of the survey, the weighted ave­ rage pH increased by 0.1 unit. According to the level of humus provision, soils with an average humus con­tent (73.8%) and with a low humus content (21.2%) prevail, and the weighted average humus content in the foothills zone of the region is 2.3%, which cor­responds to its average content. Compared to the previous round of the survey, the weighted average humus content increased by 0.1%. In the foothill zone of Chernivtsi region, the largest number of lands have a very low (28.3%) and low (70.8%) content of easily hydrolyzable nitrogen. The weighted average content of easily hydrolyzable nitrogen is 110.0 mg/kg of soil, which corresponds to a low supply of this element. When compared with the previous round of the sur­vey, the weighted average content of easily hydro­lyzable nitrogen for the reporting period increased by 0.4 mg/kg. In the foothill zone of Chernivtsi region, lands with an average content (43.2%) and a low content (23.8%) of mobile phosphorus compounds prevail, and the weighted average content of mo­bile phosphorus compounds is 84 mg/kg, which cor­responds to an average supply. Compared with the previous round of the survey, the weighted average content of phosphorus increased by 8.0 mg/kg. In terms of the content of mobile potassium compounds, lands with a high content (40.9%) and very high con­tent (34.0%) prevail, and the weighted average con­tent of mobile potassium compounds is 122 mg/kg, which corresponds to a high supply of this element. Compared to the previous round of the survey, the weighted average content of potassium increased by 18.3 mg/kg. It was found that in the areas of the foot­ hill zone of Chernivtsi region, the largest area is occu­pied by soils of average quality: 44.0% of the surveyed lands belong to the V quality class and 35.1% of the lands belong to the VI quality class, and the weighted average assessment of agricultural lands of the foothill zone of Chernivtsi region is 48, which corresponds to the VI class of medium quality lands. A comparison of the qualitative assessment of soils in the foothill zone of Chernivtsi region was also carried out for the 10th (2011–2015) and 11th rounds (2016–2020) of agro­ chemical surveys. Compared to the previous round of ecological and agrochemical surveys, the average score for the districts of the foothill zone of the region increased from 41 to 48. The qualitative assessment of the condition of the lands of Storozhynets district improved by 13 points, and the qualitative assess­ ment of the soils of Hertsa, Vyzhnytsіa and Hlyboka districts by 3–6 points, which is associated with an increase in the rates of application of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers, as well as an increase in the volume of application of elements of biologization of agriculture.