MINSK DISTRICT, 12 October (BelTA) - Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko will review the experiment to improve the fertility of sandy soils and difficult land during a working visit to Minsk District on 12 October, BelTA has learned.
The head of state will be shown a trial corn field and briefed on the experiment to improve the fertility of sandy soils and difficult land, including through the use of organic fertilizers with added peat and potash salt waste.
The head of state will be shown a trial corn field and briefed on the experiment to improve the fertility of sandy soils and difficult land, including through the use of organic fertilizers with added peat and potash salt waste.The experiment was conducted on a 20-hectare trial plot in Minsk District. It was divided into six parts, and before sowing corn, the soil was treated in various ways - both without fertilizer and with it. Several types of fertilizer were used, including both organic and mineral fertilizers traditional for domestic agriculture, as well as trial batches with peat and clay-salt sludge. The latter were developed by the National Academy of Sciences together with the Agrokombinat Dzerzhinsky, the Beltopgaz state production association and Belaruskali.
After they were applied, a hybrid universal-purpose corn variety, Ricardino, was sown in the field, and observations were recorded of the crop growth and development and the formation of cobs.
After they were applied, a hybrid universal-purpose corn variety, Ricardino, was sown in the field, and observations were recorded of the crop growth and development and the formation of cobs.According to preliminary results, the most positive dynamics in green mass accumulation were demonstrated by plants on plots where conventional compost and composts with sludge were applied. As the plants grew and developed, their height on all experimental plots was comparable, but significantly exceeded the control sample without fertilizer. The experiments also confirmed a positive effect in terms of the average number of cobs per plant.
Final conclusions about the effectiveness of the developed composts can be drawn after the corn is harvested for grain and the resulting yield is calculated. In the opinion of specialists, it would be advisable to repeat the experiment next year and continue research, including on grain crops.
The experiment on improving the fertility of sandy soils and difficult land was conducted on the instructions of the head of state. This spring, the president suggested trying to mix organic fertilizers with peat and potash salt waste in order to improve the fertility of land unfavorable for agriculture.
“I even thought: what if we take a layer of potash salt waste, put down a layer of organic matter, a layer of peat, and mix it all together. What would we get? It probably would not be worse. After all, some potash fertilizer remains there. Plough it in, and then add peat and organic fertilizers,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said on 10 March 2026, hearing a report on the current activities of the National Bank in the context of the country’s economic development tasks. “That there will be an improvement for the soil is certain. But how economically justified it is needs to be tested. I am ready to keep an eye on it. We need to find some ‘poor’ field and try it on some plot. And maybe we will solve the problem with the spoil heaps around Soligorsk.”
