Quality of Organic Soils for Agricultural Use of Cutover Peatlands in Russia

The area of cutover peatlands in Russia is estimated at 2 million ha. The aim of this chapter is to present organic soil quality criteria for agricultural production on cutover peatlands in Russia. From the analyses of 10,000 soil profiles in European Russia, the authors developed the following soil criteria with the ascending order of capability in parentheses:

176Thickness of the arable peat layer (<15 cm to 30–40 cm)

Degree of peat decomposition (<20% to >50%)

C/N ratio (>25 to 10–14)

Ash content (<0.10 to > 0.40 kg kg⁻¹)

Bulk density (<0.20 to > 0.40 g cm⁻³)

pH_KCl (<4.5 to >6.0)

Cationic base saturation of the cation exchange capacity (< 20% to > 60%)

Rock outcrops, uneven thickness of the residual peat layers, the presence of a gley layer below peat, toxic compounds, as well as abrupt temperature and moisture fluctuations during the growing season, may reduce the quality of organic soils in reclaimed cutover peatlands.