The publication of this Handbook was supported by the Russian Federation

Fig. 1.3. The distribution of salt-affected soils within the Eurasian Region [16]
Km
 The percentage cover of salt-affected soils
Zero

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13
Chapter 1.Salt-affected soils of the Eurasian Region: diagnostics, criteria and distribution 
Km
The prevailing type of soil salinity:
sulphate
chloride-sulphate
chloride
soda
Fig. 1.4. The prevalent chemistry of salt-affected soils within the Eurasian Region [17]
In the Russian Federation [7] about 21% of  the total area of  agricultural lands are categorized 
as salt-affected, among which there are 6.3 million ha (about 9%) of  saline (non-alkaline) soils 
and more than 23 million ha (12.5%) of  soils of  Solonetz complexes. Salt-affected soils are most 
widespread in the south of  Russia in semidesert, dry steppe, steppe and forest-steppe environments.
In some regions, e.g., the Astrakhan region, the Republic of  Kalmykia, the Republic of  Dagestan, 
the Novosibirsk region, etc., saline and akaline soils occupy up to 30% or more of  the total arable 
land area. Alkaline soils are widespread in the south of  Western Siberia, while saline soils occur in 
the south-eastern part of  Siberia within small locations such as topographic depressions and river 
valleys. They are especially common on irrigated lands towards the south, where primary salinity 
and the risk of  secondary salinity are common problems.
In Ukraine (S.A. Balyuk and E.N. Drozd) salt-affected soils occupy a relatively small proportion 
(around 7%) of  arable land, but in an agricultural sense they require special attention for several 
reasons [22]. Natural salt-affected soils of  Ukraine are located within two tectonic depressions 
– the Dnieper-Don (forest-steppe zone) and the Black Sea (steppe) depressions, where generally 
imperfect land drainage causes the accumulation of  salts within the root zone and the development 
of  secondary salinization processes. According to hydrology-amelioration monitoring data, 
formerly irrigated lands occupy a total area of  2.18 million ha, but currently irrigated lands – only 
600-700 thousand ha (25-30% of  irrigated lands).
Saline soils without a morphologically distinct solonetzic horizon occupy a total area of  1.92 million 
ha, while alkaline soils with a morphologically distinct solonetzic horizon occupy 2.8 million ha. 

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Soil salinity manаgement manual | Part I.Soil salinity management in the Eurasian Region 
The total arable land area includes between 50-100 and 200 thousand hectares of  secondary saline 
soils in different years.
These findings have been confirmed by analysis outputs from the global database of  GLADIS 
(FAO LADA, 2005) as follows. In dry parts of  the region, most soil types undergo salinization and 
degradation due to the poor condition of  vegetation and soil cover and the ecosystem sensitivity 
to salinization, water erosion, climate change and droughts. At the present time, salt-affected and 
waterlogged soils occupy up to 40-60% of  irrigated lands in Central Asia [23]. The World Bank 
(2005) states that over 69.4% of  agricultural lands in the Central Asia are affected by salinization 
[8, 13, 24].
Thus, there are important problems in the use and amelioration of  salt-affected soils in all countries 
of  the Eurasian Region, which require decision making on the development of  joint programmes 
for action to achieve an integrated management, conservation and rational use of  natural resources 
with an emphasis on the sustainable management of  salt-affected soils and waters. To achieve 
targets there is a vital need to strengthen the scientific base and to mobilize resources to support 
the wider implementation of  innovative approaches and technologies for sustainable management 
of  land resources and realization of  national and subregional programmes on the improvement 
and  amelioration  of   salt-affected  soils  involving  the  application  of   technical,  scientific,  water-
ameliorative, land-ameliorative and agricultural engineering measures.