Almost 30 million hectares of land in Kazakhstan subject to degradation

As noted by Deputy of the Parliament, member of the Committee on Agrarian Issues Nurzhan Ashimbetov, according to the data of the State Institute for Land Survey of the Ministry of Agriculture, 29.9 million hectares of land have been degraded in Kazakhstan today.

The potential fertility of soils decreased by 17%, and the area of saline lands on irrigated lands increased by 35-37%. As a result, crop yields have decreased. Last year, the Law "On Pastures" introduced norms aimed at preventing the degradation of pastures, for the fundamental and superficial improvement of their condition, which are directly related to issues of soil protection and the foundations of a green economy. However, currently the degradation of arable lands and the reduction of their humus is gaining momentum," the MP said.

According to him, the norms of the Land and Environmental Codes governing relations in the field of soil protection are general in nature and do not contain legal mechanisms and measures to protect them.

The current Land Code provides for the adoption of special legislation regarding environmental objects, which is the soil. The lack of an integrated approach in the legal regulation and management of soil protection is fraught with the danger of further soil degradation, reduction of biological productivity and failure to fulfil their economic and environmental objectives. In this regard, draft Laws on Soil Protection and on amendments to some legislative acts of Kazakhstan on soil protection have been developed, Nurzhan Ashimbetov said.

Earlier it was reported that 32% of arable land in the Turkestan region is saline.

By Karina Kushchanova for Kazinform.