Solutions for the Spatial Organization of Cropland with Increased Erosion Risk at the Regional Level: A Case Study of Belgorod Oblast, European Russia

Abstract

Among the reasons for soil degradation, runoff-induced erosion causes the greatest damage to agriculture in European Russia. One of the effective tools for regulating soil erosion is changing the structure of sown areas and the composition of crops with a focus on soil conservation and rehabilitation land use. The aim of this paper is to present the results of the impact of the program on river-basin nature management and the adaptive landscape agriculture system (ALAS) on changes in soil losses due to storm erosion in one of the agriculturally most developed and, at the same time, most eroded administrative regions of European Russia—Belgorod Oblast. In this study, the calculation of potential soil washout was carried out for three cropland models: (1) The maximum erosion potential of the territory, expressed in terms of soil washout from bare (clean) fallow areas; (2) soil washout, considering the actual structure of sown areas over the past 10 years; and (3) soil washout, considering the full implementation of projects for the erosion-control organization of cropland within the framework of ALAS. The calculation of erosion-induced soil losses was carried out according to the USLE model adapted to regional environmental conditions, while the C-factor values were set separately for each model. For model 1, the average soil loss is 11.3 t/ha per year; for model 2, it is 3.5 t/ha per year; and for model 3, it is 2.2 t/ha per year. It was found that the current programs for the biologization of agriculture and the contour-reclamation organization of cropland would have a noticeable erosion-control effect. It is noteworthy that the greatest efficiency was modeled for areas with unfavorable relief conditions, with up to 40% reduction in soil losses as compared to actual ones.