The publication of this Handbook was supported by the Russian Federation

I.P. Aidarov (Russia)
According to the concept of  sustainable development, agricultural practices should encompass the 
conservation and restoration of  land, the efficient use of  natural resources and stable production 
to satisfy the needs of  both present and future generations. In the area of  natural resource 
management, the sustainable development of  agriculture requires a multifaceted approach to 
research and decision making. Therefore, a transition to sustainable development should be based 
on the study on ecological problems and socio-economic issues, which implies a detailed analysis 
of  causal relationships between natural and agricultural factors and long-term consequences of  
agricultural impact on natural resources as well as the development of  methods for a quantitative 
assessment of  land quality [2].
An analysis of  the current state of  agricultural lands and the causes of  its deterioration requires 
consideration of, at least, three aspects of  human-nature interaction, which are as follows: (i) ecological, 
connected with a loss of  biodiversity and natural ecosystem stability that forms the basis for natural 
resource formation and ecological stability of  agrocenoses (agricultural plant communities); (ii) 
socio-economic, connected with a depletion of  natural resources, decreases in both efficiency and 
stability of  agricultural production and food security issues; and (iii) methodological, associated with 
the development of  quantitative methods for the assessment of  long-term consequences of  land 
use and the design of  complex soil amelioration measures.
All the above requires analyses of  ecological-agricultural interactions and their influence on natural 
ecosystems. The planning of  combined land amelioration measures requires development of  
simulation modeling and methods for the long-term forecasts of  changes in the quality of  irrigated 
lands, because management is impossible without such forecasts.
3.1. Methods and models for assessing the state of irrigated lands
Methods and models designed for assessing the state of  land and, most importantly, for the forecasts 
of  changes in the state of  natural resources due to human impact are still underdeveloped. At the 
same time, it is generally recognized that forecasting man-made changes in the state of  agricultural 
lands is a basis for the development of  natural resource conservation and management practices. 
Due to the fact that soil is the primary resource in the agricultural production and that it is 
intimately connected with biodiversity of  terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, the development of  soil 
management methods should involve the analysis of  soil at several levels including the interactions 
of  soil components and the role of  soils in terrestrial ecosystems and the whole biosphere [2].

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Soil salinity manаgement manual | Part I.Soil salinity management in the Eurasian Region 
3.2. Methods and models required for natural resource management
The relationship between soil characteristics and bioclimatic conditions within different natural zones.
This geographic model is based on the concepts of  soil geographic zones and soil-forming processes. 
An integrated index for the assessment of  zonal soils is calculated as follows:
(3.1)
where: R – radiation balance, kj/cm
2
; O
c
 and O
p
 total precipitation  and irrigation norm, cm; L – 
latent heat of  vaporization, kj/cm
3
.
An advantage of  the integrated 
 index application is the possibility to assess the ground-level 
atmosphere layer, the water and salt regimes of  soils and the rates of  biological processes. The use 
of  the integrated 
 index inv\olves a similar approach as for the Dokuchaev humidity index 
(Fig. 3.1).
The geographical model presented in Figure 3.1 contains a large volume of  unbiased information 
that is needed for not only assessing the state of  zonal soils and landscapes under natural conditions, 
but also for suggesting ways and means for controlling the state of  irrigated lands.