Russian soils lack sulfur

“Currently, the use of mineral fertilizers with sulfur is crucial, since crop yields are growing and the crop rotation structure is changing,” said Alexei Zavalin, scientific director of the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of fertilizer science.

According to his statement, the sulfur level today is 10 to 30 kg per 1 hectare. In 2018-2020, it exceeded 0.5 million tons in Russia, based on the main crops grown. Over 1 million tons of sulfur per year is required.

“Monitoring of arable soils showed that the low degree of sulfur is almost 60% and the average is just over 30%. The dynamics of deterioration of soil fertility due to a decrease in their sulfur content have been revealed. This problem is especially acute in the Central Federal District, where they amount to about 5 mg per 1 kg of soil, as well as in the Southern and Ural Federal Districts,” said Alexei Zavalin.