Soil degradation and remediation

The global areas of degraded and diseased soils exceeded 1.2 billion hectares, that is, about 22% of the world’s agricultural lands. Losses from damaged soils account for -25% of the global crop. In addition, land is contaminated with heavy metals and radiation, especially in mountainous areas. The aim of the work was the study and analysis of soil remediation. The issue of using grass mixtures in phytoremediation and soil remediation has not been studied enough, therefore, the problem of using new plant species that can accumulate the pollutants from aboveground biomass, is considered. In the process of studying plants on toxic soils, their accumulating abilities were determined and used as phyto-meliorants. In separate experiments, the “phyto-indicator” plants mixed with annual plant species were used, which, when the maximum biomass was accumulated, were plowed into the soil mixed with zeolite-containing clays of local importance. The experiments’ results showed that with the help of indicator plants it is possible not only to improve soil fertility, but also significantly reduce the amount of heavy metals, oil products, radionuclides, residual effects of chemical agents to control weeds, diseases and pests. Organic waste of agricultural production, waste from alcohol production, as well as the leaf litter embedded in soil with biological products were of great importance in reducing soil toxicity. The results of the experiments showed a significant reduction in toxicants in the soil when using organic waste and plowing plants as green fertilizer mixed with zeolite-containing clays and biological products.