Correct information about soil fertility makes it possible to use existing resources more efficiently, without significant additional costs, especially in the context of a global increase in prices for energy and fertilizers.
Obtaining a correct assessment of available phosphorus, potassium and microelements in the soil is a world problem. Disadvantages, which are typical for methods based on solutions of pure acids or alkalis, are largely characteristic for all methods that have extragent pH values more than 8,0 (for example, bicarbonate method - ISO 11263, pH -8,5) or have extragent pH values less than 4,5 (Brau-Kurtz 2 (рН-1,0), Mehlich 1 (рН-1,2), Arrhenius (рН-2,0), Mehlich 3 (рН-2,5), Mehlich 2 (рН-2,6), Van Lierop (Kelowna) -рН-2,7, Egner-Riehm (рН-3,6), Brau-Kurtz 1 (рН-3,5), Egner-Riehm-Domingo (рН-4,2) and etc).
The National Scientific Center "Institute for Soil Science and Agrochemistry Research named after O.N. Sokolovsky" conducted work aimed at the improvement of the national standardization system. The Technical Committee for Standardization (which was established on the basis of Scientific Center in 2001) has developed more than 300 normative documents in the area of soil science, agrochemistry and soil conservation. Of these, more than 170 standards have developed in the framework of the program "Harmonization of National Standards with International and European".
In our opinion, the Code of Conduct for the Management of Fertilizers (CoCoFe) must necessarily include a section aimed at solving the problem of correct determination of the mobile forms of macro- and microelements content in the soils.
The relevant legislative bodies: the Global Soil Partnership Plenary Assembly, the Committee on Agriculture (COAG), government regulators and other stakeholders should make efforts to harmonize national and international regulatory documents, create new international standards, and improve soil diagnostic methods.
The National Scientific Center "Institute for Soil Science and Agrochemistry Research named after O.N. Sokolovsky" is ready to take an active part in solving the above problems, both at the regional and global levels.
With respect,
Mykola Miroshnychenko
Anatoly Khristenko
السيد Anatoliy Khristenko