http://www.fao.org/globalsoilpartnership/en/ This presentation was presented during the Eurasian Soil Partnership workshop that was held on 29 February - 02 March 2016 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and it was made by Seymur Safarli.

1. MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE OF AZERBAIJAN REPUBLIC
“Sustainable soil management in Azerbaijan”
Bishkek 2016 года
Seymur Safarli
seymur.safarli@agro.gov.az

2. SHORT INFORMATION ABOUT THE COUNTRY
All categories Agriculture
Including
State Fund Municipality Private
The total territory, thous. ha 8 660,0
Population, mln. 9,6
Agricultural land, thous. ha 4757,2 4566,4 1774,5 1122,6 1669,3
Including:
Arable land 1887,9 1811,8 306,4 101,5 1403,9
Hayfields and pastures 2606.7 108,4 21,7 3,3 83,4
Permanent crops 233,8 210,7 51,1 5,4 154,2
İrrigated, thous. ha 1400
Forests 1039,2
Others 2892,44
Water resources, billion m3 25
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3. THE MAIN PROBLEMS AND CURRENT STATUS OF THE SOIL
• The territory of Republic is composed of mountainous and foothill regions (60%) and lowland areas
(40%). 85% produced in the country of agricultural products obtained mainly from irrigated land (1.4 million
hectares). It should be noted that the loss of rainfall in the country is very uneven, in some regions,
insufficient to meet the needs of crops during their growing season, there is an acute shortage of water.
• Soil salinization adversely affects the yield of agricultural crops cultivated in these lands. Approximately
47.6% of irrigated lands are affected by salinity.
• According to the spread and the rate of erosion and soil loss, our country is one of the most eroded among
the former soviet republic. Development of erosion is going on here on the one hand under the influence of
natural factors on the other hand - due to irrational use of sloping lands, and uneven water distribution in the
plain areas. In the period 1970-2014 area prone to soil erosion has increased by 6.9%. Of these, 1336.7 thous.
ha (36%) are strongly eroded, 882.6 thous. ha (23%) Average eroded and 1524.2 thous. ha (41%) slightly
eroded.
• In the context of strongly transected terrain slopes plowing without soil protection measures create
conditions for the emergence and intensive course of erosion, resulting in deteriorating soil fertility, reduced
yield and quality parameters of agricultural production and livestock productivity.
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4. Requirements:
•High-quality digital soil maps (there is a lack of high-quality digital soil maps, problems with
inaccurate data in the registration of agricultural land);
•Re-registration of agricultural land, update inventory data and clarify the rights of the
landowners;
•Identification of areas with varying degrees of threat from erosion and salinization to rationalize
agricultural production, as well as preventive measures;
•Identification and assessment of risks;
•Spatial planning placement of the main forms of land use in accordance with the natural
conditions;
•Collection of information, expanding the database and automation of access to resources, as
well as the development of electronic services for the dissemination of information.
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ANALYSIS OF THE NEEDS OF THE CURRENT SITUATION

5. Mountain and foothill areas of the Greater Caucasus, attributable to the share of Azerbaijan carried out
the digitization of soil maps
5
MAPPING, REGISTRATION AND ACCOUNTING OF THE SOIL WITH
THE USE OF GIS TECHNOLOGY
Soil type
topography
surface sediments
Salinity
The predominant land use
Topographic map
Digital terrain model
Map of soil cover
Each region has a certain composition data
region
Quba

6. MAPPING, REGISTRATION AND ACCOUNTING OF THE SOIL WITH
THE USE OF GIS TECHNOLOGY
• Will create a database and collected the information it had been used for various spatial
analyzes for individual parameters of the terrain, the structure of soil and evaluation of soil
resistance to washout.
• These indicators are used to making maps with help GIS-technology from the threat of
erosion and spatial characteristics of herbaceous formations and arable land in the study
area.
• A systematic vectorization soil maps as a basic raw material for the evaluation and
modeling of erosion.
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Map threat of potential surface water erosion

7. Azerbaijan formed a unified electronic system, allowing to carry out
full monitoring and analysis of the efficiency of agriculture in the
country. The system will combine subsystems used in the registration of
agricultural producers (farmers), identification of land designated for the
conduct of agricultural operations, registration and identification of
animals, their health and productivity. It will also include the
management and filing of applications for financing agricultural
projects, farmers' credit system, as well as leasing operations and
registration of agricultural machinery.
IDENTIFICATION OF LAND DESIGNATED FOR THE CONDUCT OF
AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONS

8. IMPLEMENTATION OF RESOURCE-SAVING AND SOIL-
PROTECTION TECHNOLOGY
• The market conditions for maximum yield is essential respect for the water and
soil resources, and the introduction of new progressive technologies of cultivation of
agricultural crops.
• Currently, the agricultural production in the Republic of Azerbaijan as a priority
put forward the introduction of resource-saving, environmentally sound technologies
of cultivation of agricultural crops. These are the minimum technology and so-called
zero tillage and innovative ways of sowing crops. The use of these technologies in
the cultivation of crops makes it possible to significantly reduce energy consumption
per unit of production.
• Azerbaijan has successfully conducted research on the implementation technology
of zero and minimum tillage
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9. Impact of zero tillage on the productivity of crop rotation (subsequent) in Azerbaijan (2011)
Crops
Урожайность, т/га
Additional harvest, %
Winter wheat Maize
Winter wheat+
maize
Winter wheat, control 5.37 - 5.37 -
Winter wheat+ maize 5.37 4.90 10.27 91.25
IMPLEMENTATION OF RESOURCE-SAVING AND SOIL-
PROTECTION TECHNOLOGY
9

10. Tillage systems
Corn,
t/ha
Soybean,
t/ha
Sunflower,
t/ha
Tillage 4.87 1.83 2.16
Chisel
4.72 1.89 2.18
No-till
4.82 1.90 2.23
No-till Corn No-till soybean Chisel Sunflower
EFFECT OF TILLAGE ON CROP YIELDS, AZERBAIJAN, 2012

11. IMPLEMENTATION OF RESOURCE-SAVING AND
SOIL-PROTECTION TECHNOLOGY
• After completion of the project CA, given the positive results and
recommendations of this project, the government began to
encourage farmers reseeding implementing this technology in the
form of subsidies to AZN 50 per ha.
• In order to disseminate this technology was bought 12 units stubble
seeder technology in the country by the Ministry of Agriculture for
planting crops (No-Till technology) and now the farmers will be
able to rent or buy in leasing for personal use.
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12. IMPROVING THE EFFICIENCY OF USE OF
AGRICULTURAL LAND
•In recent years, held in order to improve the efficiency of
use of agricultural land targeted measures to create new
reservoirs and ponds, as well as the strengthening of
irrigation systems. In this regard, the country implemented a
number of major projects and the infrastructure equipped
with modern technological equipment. Ongoing measures
necessitate the use of advanced technologies in irrigation and
the further expansion of large-scale irrigation systems,
increase the interest of entrepreneurs in this area, and
investments.
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13. • JSC "Agroleasing" to provide 40 percent discount on the acquisition in leasing
of irrigation systems and equipment.
• Starting from April 2016 to 2019, the government plans to upgrade all of the
cadastral information on agricultural land for the whole country.
• This year with the help of FAO Ministry of Agriculture starts the project "Land
Consolidation" in order to analyze the current state of preparation of the national
land consolidation strategy, as well as improving the institutional capacity.
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IMPROVING THE EFFICIENCY OF USE OF
AGRICULTURAL LAND

14. The main limitation for the use of sustainable management of soil
resources
• On small farms with 1-2 ha of land, the introduction of new advanced irrigation systems (drip and
sprinkler irrigation) and alternative technologies become ineffective with agronomic and economic point of
view.
• Lack of knowledge and skills for the development of new technologies (because of the limitations
mentioned above, local residents suffer from a lack of information about new technologies to apply to their
activities);
• The weak link between science, education and implementation;
• Despite good networking advisory centers in the regions (7 Regional Agricultural Information,
consultation centers) a low level of human resource capacity hinder the expansion of advisory services for the
application of SIRM.
• In recent years, the government has stepped up efforts to land consolidation, but, unfortunately, did not
have any significant success. Law on Cooperatives is ready, but not yet approved by the government.
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15. The main strategic directions and priorities in the country
I. Efficient use of natural resources:
 Research in improving soil fertility, the development of measures to combat erosion and salinity, as well
as the effective management of groundwater;
 Efficient use of water and land resources in a changing climate;
 Strengthening institutional capacity for water resource management, and modernization of irrigation
systems management (support for water management associations, public and private services, technical
and administrative modernization);
 Improved agricultural technologies, the introduction of innovative, resource-saving and environmental
technologies in practice;
 Land consolidation;
 Recovery and increase the efficiency of the use of pastures.
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16. The main strategic directions and priorities in the country
II. Strengthening national programs
Organization of research and effectiveness of implementation;
Increasing the level of knowledge of experts in various fields of science;
Strengthening the links between science, education and implementation;
Creating a network of information and implementation, database management.
The need to improve access to and use of appropriate technologies in rural
areas
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17. Thanks for your attention!