Abstract:
The decrease in the efficiency of agriculture is associated with the impact of wind erosion, the consequences of which
are a decrease in soil fertility. Significant manifestations of wind erosion are characteristic of arid and semiarid zones,
which have a small amount of precipitation, high air temperature and evaporation rates, enhanced by strong winds and
low differentiation of plant protection. It has been proven that the intensity of the deflationary process’ manifestations
depend on the physical and geographical conditions of agricultural land location, the systematicity of soil protection
measures and the presence of vegetation. It was established that the acceleration of deflationary processes occurs in
territories with increased anthropogenic load, which lead to an ecological disturbance of territorial ecosystems natural
balance. During the conducted research, it was found that the natural processes of wind erosion are greatly aggravated
by the lack of a scientifically based and ecologically remedial system of agriculture, which leads to the destruction of
the soil cover, a decrease in soil fertility, damage to agricultural crops and, as a result, economic losses. As a result of
GIS and ERS technologies application, as well as an empirical and statistical model of possible soil loss in the territory
of the Ukrainian Steppe zone due to wind erosion, it was determined that because of deflation processes in the territory
occupied by pure steam in the absence of anti-deflation measures conditions, the value of soil loss in the epicenter of
dust windstorms can reach about 600 t/ha. Research has proven the importance of the anti-deflation effect of
vegetation, which causes an increase in erosion-dangerous (favorable) areas of agricultural land by 1.7 times, which
reduces soil loss by 5.62 times. In accordance with the intensity of deflationary processes manifestations and the excess
of soil losses, contour-ameliorative anti-deflation measures with the elements of soil protection agriculture are
proposed.
