Concept and Results of Soil Monitoring in North Kazakhstan

This concept defines the goals, objectives and areas of work aimed at implementing the public monitoring of agricultural lands and lands used or rented for agricultural purposes within lands of other categories, the data on which are the basis for establishing public information resources on the status and use of these lands. This paper includes the methods for conducting studies monitoring the soils of Northern Kazakhstan, their current status and ways of improving soil fertility in terms of the ordinary and southern black soils of Northern Kazakhstan. It shows the climatic conditions of subzones of ordinary and southern black soils where the studies were conducted, their morphological indices, physical–chemical properties and significant changes in the soil properties due to long-term agricultural use. Use of the results from monitoring studies will allow scientists to forecast the development of negative soil processes, prevent the shrinking of agricultural land, and justify the need for programmes of soil fertility conservation and restoration.