FAO Launches Russian Soil Laboratory Network

29 April 2022 the Russian Soil Laboratory Network (RUSOLAN) called its first meeting. The national network is part of GLOSOLAN – the Global Soil Laboratory Networkwith 800 laboratories in 150 countries, whose work is coordinated by the Global Soil Partnership of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and also part of the EUROSOLAN (an umbrella network for soil labs in Europe and Eurasia).

Elena Shamrikova, Vice-Chair of EUROSOLAN, opened the forum. She recalled that the international soil laboratory network was established for the purpose of harmonizing methods and enhancing approaches to soil analysis to ensure sustainable soil management in order to preserve its fertility and to maintain its ecosystem functions. “All of us are interested in strengthening the potential of soil chemical laboratories in our country and in improving the quality of measurements. 

Our experience has shown that GLOSOLAN can overcome any barriers: language, culture, age, gender and, lastly, methodological ones. It is encouraging to see that the national reference laboratory has brought together a team ready to work as part of the national network within the global structure”, Shamrikova said.

Svetlana Degteva, Director of the Institute of Biology at Komi Science Centre of the Ural Branch of RAS, described the extensive experience and the high level of expertise of the Institute’s specialists, where the RUSOLAN reference laboratory will be based. “The laboratory has a team of highly skilled professionals who put a major focus on quality management, and the development of certified high-demand testing methods is the lab’s work mainstream,” said Svetlana Degteva. 

“Apart from the reference laboratory and the seven labs that are already part of the national network, another five scientific institutions have expressed their willingness to join our network. Thus, by the moment we launched RUSOLAN it already counted 13 labs as its membership.” 

Oleg Kobiakov, Director of FAO’s Moscow Office, stressed the key role of soil health in ensuring sustainable agricultural development. “Continuous research, monitoring and maintaining this environment are impossible without in-depth, fundamental scholarly work based on both traditional scientific achievements and innovations. Today’s event is a great step in this direction. I congratulate our colleagues from FAO and European and global soil science institutions, as well as Russian soil experts, of course, who hold high the torch of Russian soil science”, noted Oleg Kobiakov. 

Lucrezia Caon, representative of the Global Soil Partnership Secretariat, recalled the achievements of the Global Soil Laboratory Network in data collection and procedure standardization since its establishment in 2017: “GLOSOLAN aims to develop and strengthen the potential of laboratories in soil analysis and to respond to the need of harmonizing analytical soil data. Harmonizing methods, units, data and information is critical to (1) exchange reliable and comparable information among countries and projects; (2) generate new harmonized datasets on soils; and (3) make evidence-based decisions to ensure sustainable soil management.” 

Dr. Caon expressed her appreciation of the Russian partners who participated in implementing the project of national soil laboratory network and emphasized the role of PhosAgro company in supporting the work of GLOSOLAN. 

On behalf of the company, Alexander Sharabaiko, Deputy CEO of the PhosAgro, commended for the opportunity to be a partner in the project aimed at creating the National Soil Laboratory Network. “It is a great honour for PhosAgro, a leading global producer of eco-efficient mineral fertilizers, to become a partner in such an important project for our country’s agriculture. We are grateful for the trust of our colleagues from FAO and the Russian Academy of Sciences. Since 2018, together with FAO, we have been establishing Regional Soil Laboratory Networks, as well as helping farmers learn sustainable farming practices. PhosAgro has become the first Russian company ever chosen to implement the Global Soil Protection Initiative. 

FAO and PhosAgro have been also jointly implementing the Soil Doctors global programme, teaching efficient and environmentally-friendly land-use methods to farmers and promoting best practices in line with the International Code of Conduct for the Sustainable Use and Management of Fertilizers. In December 2021, we extended our cooperation agreement with FAO until 2023 and expanded its scope. The company together with FAO has focused on tackling soil contamination, including the one with heavy metals.”

“For us it is obvious that without an effective science and business partnership it is impossible to ensure sustainable development of the agricultural sector and find a response to global challenges,” concluded Alexander Sharabaiko. 

Pavel Krasilnikov, Executive Secretary of the Eurasian Soil Partnership, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, noted the historic significance of launching the Russian Soil Laboratory Network. “The creation of soil information systems is the cornerstone of the Global Soil Partnership’s and its Eurasian Sub-Regional Soil Partnership’s activities. However, the main challenge for us is the heterogeneity and different quality of input data for these systems. Even in the same country, different laboratories determine the same soil parameter using various methods, and even when the same methods are used, there are discrepancies in the application of specific methodologies. In the end, the results obtained vary considerably. 

Through the activities of the Soil Partnership, we hope to take a decisive step towards harmonizing and aligning data,” concluded Dr Krasilnikov. 

Sergey Shoba, President of the Dokuchaev Soil Science Society, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, underlined that the creation of the National Soil Laboratory Network is essential for building a unified information system on world soil resources: “The National Network is of utmost importance for the National Systems and for the National Soil Science Society, especially in the conditions of the Russian Federation. The territory is vast and the soil conditions are very different. Accordingly, harmonization of methods and approaches is required. 

In Russia, soil analytical laboratories are localized in the RAS system, in universities and in the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation. They have diverse areas of specialization and perform different functions: environmental protection, pollution assessment, agricultural monitoring, and scientific research. The launch of the Network is important from a scientific point of view, as well as for educational and application purposes. The creation of the Network has required initiative and great efforts. Thanks to the Institute of Biology of Komi Science Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, it has been launched today. I wish all my colleagues great success on this very important track!”  

Further, during the event, the representatives of the RUSOLAN National Network spoke described their activities and achievements, presented work plans, including interlaboratory comparison tests, development of standard operating procedures (methodologies), quality control, technical support and capacity building activities.

According to the Guidelines on how to establish a National Soil Laboratory Network, Elena Shamrikova, PhD in biology, Institute of Biology Komi Science Center RAS Syktyvar, and Elena Pivovarova, PhD in agriculture, Altai State Agricultural University (ASAU), were elected Chair and Vice-Chair of RUSOLAN, respectively.

At the end of the RUSOLAN inaugural session, Dr. Lucrezia Caon expressed her gratitude to its organizers and all participants, and noted the importance of this event for FAO’s activities on sustainable soil management. 

BACKGROUND

GLOSOLAN was established in 2017 for building and strengthening the capacity of laboratories in conducting soil analysis and meeting the need to harmonize soil analytical data. Harmonizing methods, unities, data and information is critical to (1) providing reliable and comparable information among countries and projects; (2) creating new harmonized soil databases; (3) making decisions for sustainable soil management, based on evidence.

GLOSOLAN consists of regional and national soil laboratory networks. After the successful establishment of regional networks around the world (Europe/Asia, Asia, the Middle East/North Africa, Africa, the Pacific Region, Latin America) in 2017-2020, GLOSOLAN has initiated the launch of national networks since 2021. National Soil Laboratory Networks are GLOSOLAN’s first level and are established by combining soil laboratories present in a country under the guidance of a National Reference Laboratory.

The Russian Soil Laboratory Network was launched on 29 April 2022, during a virtual event attended by 70 participants, including laboratory directors and leading experts. You can watch the RUSOLAN inaugural meeting here (in Russian): https://youtu.be/jBaYR9-ZHLQ