Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

CROP GROWING UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION OF THE ENVIRONMENT

I.N. Belous, N.M. Belous, V.F. Shapovalov, E.V. Smolsky and D.D. Dobronravov

Abstract

In the south-west of the nonchernozem belt of Russia, alongside with the problem of low natural fertility of sod-podzol sandy soils, one more problem is critical, that is, cropping under the conditions of radioactive contamination. The long-term field test aimed at studying the combined impact of mineral and organic fertilizers on the yield and quality of crops was used to solve these problems. It was revealed that a long, systematic application of organic, organo-mineral and increased doses of mineral fertilizers along with the chemical crop protection agents on sod-podzol sandy radioactively contaminated soils provides the high productivity of up to 3.5 ton/hectare of crop rotation and promotes the conservation and improvement of agrochemical properties of soils and obtaining of organic products according to the content of caesium-137 in them. The aim of the research was to estimate the possibilities of crop growing on sod-podzol sandy soils in the crop rotation under the conditions of radioactive contamination of the environment.