Assessment of agricultural losses due to soil loss as a result of military operations

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Presentation of the methodology and results of the remote assessment conducted in the Kharkiv region by the Society of Researchers of Ukraine and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, commissioned by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine.

NGO “Society of Researchers of Ukraine” (hereinafter – the Society) under Agreement No.OSRO/UKR/019/CHA between the Society and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (hereinafter – FAO), in the period from May 2023 to June 2024, will conduct a detailed study of the degree of contamination of agricultural land (mainly arable land) and will assess the damage caused to soil cover, as well as possible risks of contamination of arable land within the territories of the Mykolaiv, Kherson and Kharkiv regions that suffered from the russian federation’s armed aggression against Ukraine.

The analytical component of the study will include a number of important indicators for territorial communities in general and for individual agricultural plots:  

• number of shell holes and craters with corresponding parameters (diameter, depth, probable type of weapon); 

• volume of displaced soil, m3; 

• area of contaminated soil, m2; 

• amount of damage from soil contamination, in hryvnias.

During the implementation of the practical component of the study, data will be obtained on:  

• pedoturbation zones (zones of direct soil damage);

• soil contamination zones;

• places of possible activation of hazardous geomorphological processes; 

• zones at geochemical risks of heavy metal contamination; 

• zones of geochemical barriers in the soil environment;• degree of pollution of agricultural plots.