The publication of this Handbook was supported by the Russian Federation

Azerbaijan (A.G. Aliev and S.A. Safarli). There is a wide diversity of  environmental conditions 
and soil-forming factors within the Republic of  Azerbaijan, which includes nine out of  eleven 
climatic zones known in the world. The environments vary from plains that are lower than sea level 
to high mountains of  the Greater and Lesser Caucasus.
The  salt-affected  lands  of   Azerbaijan  have  a  total  area  of   about  600  thousand  hectares.  The 
processes of  soil salinization create serious problems and hinder the development of  agriculture. 
Soil salinization is most severely manifested within the Kura-Aras Lowland. Although some parts 
of  this territory have been artificially drained, the removal of  salts from soils by leaching and the 
restoration of  soil health require greater amounts of  fresh water.
About 633.8 thousand ha (43.8%) of  irrigated lands are currently affected by salinization. Soil 
salinization processes have negative impacts on agricultural crop productivity on arable lands. The 
crop yields have decreased on average by 23%, 47% and 85% on weakly, moderately and strongly 
saline soils, respectively.
As a result of  the wide-scale implementation of  amelioration measures, many parts of  the Kura- 
Aras Lowland have been drained. The ameliorated land with a total area of  593 thousand hectares 
includes 310.4 thousand ha of  open horizontal drainage systems, more than 264.4 thousand ha of  
closed drainage systems and 13.2 thousand ha of  vertical drainage systems. The collector-drainage 
networks of  closed, open and other types have total lengths of  10, 9.7 and and 11.6 thousand km, 
respectively [1-5].