Pavel Krasilnikov: Experimenting with soil protection technologies
On the eve of the World Soil Day, celebrated annually on 5 December, the FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation took an exclusive interview with Dr Pavel V. Krasilnikov, a leading Russian soil scientist, Doctor of Biological Sciences, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Soil Science of Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU).
– Dr Krasilnikov, you hold the position of the Executive Secretary of the Eurasian Soil Partnership (EASP), which has proven its worth within the framework of the FAO Global Soil Partnership (GSP). Would you please detail the activities of the EASP and assess cooperation with FAO.
– When the GSP was created, it became clear that it was necessary to proceed from the peculiarities of the regions. Regional associations began to form. European Partnership was one of them; it grouped together Russia and the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). In 2013, the EASP was established in Berlin in the course of the Global Soil Week.
During this event, my colleagues and I discussed the processes of synchronizing work programmes between the regions of Western Europe and the Eastern flank – the CIS countries. We decided to form a sub-regional EASP, designed to solve somewhat different tasks, considering the specifics of economic relations in the field of agriculture and land use, the size of the countries, different levels of development of agricultural technology, and so on.
We held a forum in Moscow, inviting representatives of all CIS countries, as well as Turkey, which also wanted to participate in the activities of the EASP. We agreed to create a Partnership secretariat based at the MSU, which at that time received funding from the Government of the Russian Federation, and this allowed us to fully perform our duties.
At first, it was not easy to define the functions and organize the work of the Partnership due to the cardinal difference from the usual academic structure, which implies specific projects and clear deadlines. Partnerships are not a specific project, but a kind of "umbrella" that defines common goals and outlines the scope of activities. It allows effort coordination aimed at improving sustainable soil management, regardless of the source of funding.
This is the main task of our partnerships, both Eurasian and Global, since the main problem of soil degradation is precisely the cultivation and use of soils without taking into account their resilience to external influences. This leads to a gradual loss of their fertility and affects the agricultural sector – yields and, ultimately, food security.
The main supporting structures of the Partnership have been created to address the issues associated with the irrational use of soil resources, namely: the management of educational programmes, the dissemination of soil information and knowledge, and the attraction of investments. Applied scientific research, as well as information systems and harmonization of soil data represent another important pillar of support. Today, the most urgent task for Russia is sustainable soil management.
– Issues of soil health and sustainable management of soil resources are gaining more and more resonance in Russia within the framework of the One Health concept. According to this approach, human health cannot be considered separately from the health of all components of the ecosystem: water, soil, air, animals, plants. What activities does the EASP carry out to raise awareness and improve the state of the region's soil resources?
– In 2015, the FAO "Status of the World's Soil Resources" report was released. I edited the chapter on the European region. We figured out with my colleagues what processes negatively affect the soil. It turned out that we have a very clear division of Western, Central, and Southern Europe and eastern regions. In Europe, soils are degraded due to over-intensive use, while in the eastern regions, the cause is just the opposite: insufficient soil protection measures, for example, failure to protect the soil from erosion, and insufficient fertilization. Surprisingly, both misfortunes are combined in Russia: some territories suffer from overexploitation of soil resources, while others, on the contrary, degrade because little is invested in them. This is also what characterizes the work of the Eurasian Soil Partnership – we have to deal with a unique environment.
– Soil is one of the main carbon reservoirs on Earth. The carbon stock within the top 1 m layer of soils accounts for about 50 percent of its total volume in the atmosphere, vegetation, and soils and exceeds by a factor of two to four its accumulation in vegetation. Soils have a huge potential for capturing and storing carbon and removing it from the atmosphere, thus contributing to the fight against climate change. What is the situation with an increase in carbon stock in the soils of agricultural fields in Russia and in the Eurasian region as a whole?
– On the one hand, the problem of soil carbon loss is discussed almost everywhere. It is well known that in the natural environment carbon accumulates in the soil due to root secretions and other natural processes. In fact, soil organic matter is a kind of canned food for microbes. Fresh plant residues decompose very quickly and accordingly, quickly turn into carbon dioxide and water, while soil humus does exactly the opposite. It is a polycondensate – a compound of a huge amount of organic residues, which takes a lot of time for the soil microflora to decompose. Soil organic matter oxidation depends on the access to oxygen, and during tillage, we lose soil organic carbon. Thus, there is an emission of climatically active gases, which we are trying to combat, while soil, in theory, should act as an "accumulator" of organic matter.
There are several myths associated with organic matter oxidation in arable soils. To start with, many estimates of soil organic carbon losses are strongly exaggerated. These assessments are typically based on historical comparison, with a few crucial points being overlooked. Methods of soil carbon measurements varied depending upon the year, which led to erroneous conclusions. As long as the measurement method, which was applied a hundred years ago, is being employed, soil carbon indicators will remain overstated. Besides, the tillage process itself has changed – previously tilth was carried out to a depth of 20 cm, but in recent decades its depth has reached 30-40 cm. With this context, tilled earth includes soil layers that initially contain little humus. As a result, sure enough, carbon moves from soil to the atmosphere, but not in such great volumes as many studies show.
The second myth is that arable soil is inevitably a source of climate-active gases. But what matters is the ratio of carbon emitted to the atmosphere to carbon absorbed by the soil. Even arable soil can act as a carbon sink. As of today, many climate projects are based on the application of improved ways of sequestering carbon in cultivated soils.
– In this regard, which practices contribute to the accumulation of soil carbon? What are their advantages and disadvantages?
– We have compared models and real carbon dynamics while conducting multi-year agrochemical experiments in the Russian Federation. It turns out that there is a decrease in carbon stocks in soils where higher doses of organic fertilizers have been applied. The use of organic fertilizers in optimal doses in combination with mineral amendments improves the efficiency of soil biological processes, allowing to increase the number of plants and the amount of microbial biomass: their dead part is precisely the source of the necessary organic matter. The application in large amounts of organic amendments, such as manure, will not lead to the desired result, unlike a properly balanced system of organomineral fertilization of the soil.
On top of that, there are many conventional approaches, such as the introduction of crop rotations and cover crops, which also maintain soil fertility and soil carbon stocks.
Innovative approaches are emerging. Biochar, or biocoal, seems very promising at the moment. It is a type of coal that is retrieved in pyrolysis, a process of burning without access to oxygen. Its application has a positive effect on soil and preserves carbon in it.
We are currently working with chemists, experts in polymers, who are engaged in creating a soil structure-forming agent that prevents erosion. We have a hypothesis, which still needs to be tested in the fields, that an erosion preventing coating, in addition to its main functions, also reduces the intensity of gas exchange and therefore reduces the potential soil carbon losses.
Among the disadvantages of the above-mentioned approaches, I will emphasize the following: they are still in the pilot phase and are applied to relatively small areas. To get more specific results, we need to scale up these processes.
– Could you describe the planned activities of the MSU carbon experimental field?
– The MSU carbon experimental field will start operating next year, in the meantime, preparatory work is underway. The goal is to obtain information by experiment on the dynamics of carbon stocks in natural and agrarian ecosystems. The hope is to get not only scientific results but also specific technologies and recommendations, which will allow us to fix atmospheric carbon in soils in a more effective way.
Within the carbon experimental field, there are towers suitable for climate-active gas emissions studies by the eddy covariance method. Gas analysers are located there, at altitudes from 3 to 40 metres, depending on the terrain, so that the fluxes of climate-active gases can be recorded. Each site of the experimental field focuses on a different task using state-of-the-art equipment.
– The EASP is a dynamic structure. Please share your plans for further development.
– Our pace of work has slightly slowed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the events planned in a face-to-face format have been cancelled. Of course, we have managed to adapt to the situation – a large part of our meetings is held remotely. We pin great hopes on the coming year.
Upcoming plans include the EASP Plenary Assembly, which was planned back in 2020. We will continue to work on strengthening interactions with our partners in the preparation of soil information and will further assist our participants in developing soil information systems.
Together with FAO and other international partners, we have recently published a book on "Sustainable Soil Management in the Eurasian Region". The book is freely available on the EASP and GSP website, and we are planning to publish follow up publications. At present, the Partnerships' main task is to promote the practical application of the theoretical approaches we have developed, and this can only be done through collaboration with partners.
#WorldSoilDay ______________________________
The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).