Genetic representation of soils as the basis of sustainable land use and precision melioration

Abstract

A data array (15,000 numbers) for eight soil varieties was examined through the spectrum of properties included in the fundamental research program in genetic soil science. In order to expand the understanding of the essence of soil formation and the nature of soils and the need to clarify the scientific definition of the concepts of “soil”, “soil-forming process” and “hydromorphism”, the properties of soils of autochthonous moisture developed on loess-like loams were studied as the basis for diagnosing their genesis and diversity. The research is based on a large amount of material from many year  research into the profile structure, water-and-physical and chemical properties of the most fertile soils of Belarus, formed on loess-like loams of the Minsk ridge. The difference between soils and soil-like bodies has been determined, as well as the role of microbiota as the basis for transformation of rock into soil, models of chemical differentiation of profiles, and bioenergetic potential of soils. The conducted research contributes to deepening the general understanding of soils, water regime as a marker of soil genesis, as well as objective diagnosis of soil genesis, being the basis for the design of sustainable land use, increasing the efficiency of soil use based on genesis with diagnosis of the water regime as a marker, as well as information content of soil maps, ensuring development of precision arable farming systems. Necessity and importance of taking into account the diversity of soil properties for large-scale hydrotechnical melioration is shown.