Conservation Practices and Management in Ukrainian Mollisols

This study focused on soil degradation of Ukrainian Mollisols and investigated the effect of conservation practices on soil physical, chemical, and biological properties over the past 50 years. And the policies and relevant legislation are also outlined in this paper. The results showed conversion from plowtillage to minimum tillage and notill improved infiltration rate, pH, and Soil Organic Matter (SOM) in 0-10 cm layer and led to carbon accumulation in fulvic acids and humins. No significant differences in SOM storage were observed among tillage systems in the 0-100 cm layer. The five crop rotation increased 0.8, 0.71, and 0.94 t ha^1 yield of cereals and 5.8, 1.0, and 4.2 t ha^1 sugar beet under conventional tillage, deep minimum tillage, and reduced minimum tillage, respectively. Application of fertilizer in conservation agriculture, including NPK and manure, was 12 t ha^1 in the humid zone, 1012 t ha^1 manure in semihumid zone and 810 t ha^1 manure in the Mollisols region of semiarid zone. Green manure, cover crops, and inter crops increased crop yield by 210% on Forest Steppe and Steppe Mollisols. The combination of strip cropping, contour farming, contour bunds, and terracing are particularly recommended for the sloping farmland in order to reduce soil erosion. In conclusion, soil conservation practices should be applied in Ukraine to prevent soil degradation.