The publication of this Handbook was supported by the Russian Federation

Research  data  of  scientific  and  educational  institutions are obtained 
via  observations  within  a  network  of   long-term  field  experiments.  Many 
properties of  soils are monitored in the course of  such experiments. However, 
the data do not characterize the entire soil cover of  an irrigated area. 

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Chapter 4.The rational use of saline and alkaline soils (with examples from Ukraine) 
6) 
The national environmental monitoring system is controlled by the Ministry of  
Agrarian Policy of  Ukraine (State Institution ‘Soil Protection Institute of  Ukraine’ - the 
agrochemical records (passporting) of  agricultural lands) and the State Water Resources 
Agency of  Ukraine (hydrogeology-amelioration expeditions and parties – the data on the 
ameliorative state of  irrigated and drained lands). The procedures for data collection are 
controlled by different governmental departments, therefore, there are disagreements on 
observation methods and programmes and a lack of  a common structure and comparability 
of  databases, most of  which are still paper-based outputs that cannot be used in modern 
data analysis systems, i.e., they are incompatible with modern technologies. All these 
factors make it impossible to gain the maximum use out of  such data for conducting 
assessments and drawing forecasts of  the state of  irrigated lands with the aim of  sustainable 
management.
The authors suggest several measures that can help to gain sufficient, accurate, precise and useful 
information on the state of  irrigated soils and to solve the problem of  soil protection and improvement 
of  its fertility. Soil assessments should be unified with the agrochemical records of  agricultural lands 
and the agro-ecological monitoring, i.e., a new agrochemical soil monitoring methodology should 
be developed and implemented. The data collected by different methods should complement each 
other and form a comprehensive database, which can serve for quality assessment and forecasts, 
management, use and conservation of  irrigated soils. Such joint monitoring system should rely 
on the latest achievements of  soil science and unified work programmes and methodologies and 
conform to European standards.
The Regional Implementation Plan for the realization of  the Eurasian Soil Partnership programme 
‘Approaches to the sustainable management of  soil resources in 2015-2019’ implies the development 
of  international regulations and methodologies as a basis for the rational use and amelioration of  
salt-affected soils. An adaptation of  old standards to the latest scientific achievements is one of  the 
main principles of  the rational use and amelioration of  salt- affected soils. In this respect, legislative 
documents require timely updates and the development of  new standards according to the subject 
matter. Standardization in the area of  environment and soil protection is aimed at a) re-defining 
and classifying the existing regulations, rules and requirements on the conservation and rational 
use of  soils and b) providing legislative support to sustainable and ecologically harmless land use in 
the agricultural industry.
In Ukraine, legislative documentation of  various sorts is developed and produced by the Technical 
Committees on Standardization (TC). In particular, national regulatory documents are supplied 
by  the  TC  142  'Soil  Science'  and  the  TC  145  'Amelioration  and  Water  Use'.  Currently,  the 
governmental committees have developed and implemented more than 300 regulatory documents, 
which include around 30 standards for assessing the state and rational use of  salt-affected and 
irrigated soils. The standards are developed with the use of  international experience, principles of  
integrity and conformity to existing laws. There are also a series of  handbooks with instructions 
and methodological recommendations.

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Soil salinity manаgement manual | Part I.Soil salinity management in the Eurasian Region 
4.5. Technical support for the conservation and use of salt-affected 
soils
4.5.1. The system of hydrotechnical, agricultural and chemical amelioration of saline and 
alkaline soils