Ukrainian scientists developed a map of carbon content in soils

Ukrainian scientists together with the FAO organization have developed an electronic map on which shows the quantitative content of carbon in the soils in different regions of Ukraine.

This was announced by Svyatoslav Balyuk, the director of the National Research Center Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry named after A. Sokolovsky (Kharkiv),  during the conference in the National Academy of Sciences, writes AgroPolit.com.

According to him, scientists of the specialized institutes of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences worked on the project for a year.

"Within the framework of the partnership, FAO is preparing a global soil map in order to monitor the condition of the soil and its saturation with carbon. Ukraine was one of the first to prepare such a map. A world map will be prepared and our work, together with others, will be presented at FAO headquarters on the World Soil Day on December 5," Svyatoslav Balyuk said.

Laboratories of the Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry, 10 laboratories of the National Academy of Sciences and 7 educational institutions participated in the development of the map.

"When we have an accurate picture of the carbon content in soils, we can use this information to improve their quality. After all, carbon fulfills the bioenergetic function. Now we can make efforts to reduce the level of degradation," explained the scientist.

In the framework of the partnership with FAO, Ukrainian scientists have also implemented an educational project. The scientist explained that the international organization is ready to invest funds to create analytical laboratories in regions where they will study Ukrainian soils.

"Today we have different scientific laboratories, where scientists use different methods and apply various approaches to analyzing the soil. This leads to the fact that we can not obtain consolidated, reliable information. After participating in international exercises and through the creation of joint centers, we will be able to work more coordinated," said Svyatoslav Balyuk.

Reference: the system of remote monitoring of soil Greenbe is able to increase crop yields.