Southern regions of Russia will be saved from desertification

The last major outbreak of desertification was in RUSSIA in the 70-90s of the last century, according to scientists of the Federal Scientific Center for Agroecology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and then Dagestan, Kalmykia and the Astrakhan region suffered the most. Now, according to the Russian Academy of Sciences, more than 126 million hectares of agricultural land is already suffering from desertification or may be affected in the near future. However, scientists are working on phytomelioration technologies that can stop this process.

Now dust storms are a problem for the regions of Dagestan, Chechnya, Stavropol Territory, Rostov Region, Kalmykia, Astrakhan and Volgograd Regions, said Konstantin Kulik, HEAD researcher at the Federal Scientific Center for Agroecology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in a commentary for TASS. To prevent desertification, scientists propose to fix the sands by planting trees and shrubs. Such a forest belt can return the status of a pasture to the affected land in 3-5 years, scientists are sure, after which the land can be used again - but carefully.

The second thing that should help in the fight against desertification, according to scientists, is the tougher punishment for uncontrolled grazing, which can cause desertification.

To protect agricultural land from drought, degradation and desertification in Russia, it is necessary to create about 5 million hectares of forest belts by 2025, scientists say.