Liming of acid soils in Russia will be accelerated

First Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Russia Dzhambulat Khatuov held a meeting on the implementation of the plan for the liming of acid soils. Among the participants of the meeting were the heads of regional organs of governance of the agro-industrial complex, representatives of agrochemical services and scientific and business communities.

At the beginning of the meeting, Dzhambulat Khatuov noted that last year the liming works of arable land across the country were performed on the area of more than 303.5 thousand hectares. That is 4% more than in 2018. Of which 123.5 thousand hectares were farmed with the use of government support funds. Tatarstan, Belgorod, Kostroma, Vladimir, Novgorod, Kaliningrad, Pskov and Perm regions performed the most high-quality work in this area of agriculture. At the same time, some regions haven’t yet assimilated government funds.

In 2020, the government intends to compensate up to 90% of the agricultural producers’ spending for the liming acid soils in the framework of the agriculture development program. Federal Treasury expects to allocate 302.2 million rubles (approx. $4.3 million) for these purposes. Dzhambulat Khatuov intrusted the regions to complete liming works as soon as possible.

Besides, the regions actively prepare design specifications and estimates and register ameliorants. Dzhambulat Khatuov said that it’s necessary to expedite all registration procedures. The heads of organs of governance of the agro-industrial complex should take the situation under personal control.