75 Years of the Nature Transformation Plan. Results and Lessons of Implementation

Abstract.The review provides a detailed analysis of the agroforestry and protective afforestation development in tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union in order to combat drought and desertification of agricultural lands. The actions of progressive land users to create protective forest plantations on their lands to obtain business timber, increase crop yields and prevent erosion processes on arable land are considered. The main pre-war documents of the Communist Party and the Government of the USSR on complex land reclamation are highlighted. The largest project in the history of the country to transform agriculture in the period from 1949 to 1965 in arid areas is considered in detail. Here, frequent droughts cause significant damage to the national economy. This project was approved by the resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Central Committee of the CPSU(b) dated October 20, 1948, entitled “On the plan of protective forest plantations, the introduction of grass-field crop rotations, the construction of ponds and reservoirs to ensure high and stable yields in the steppe and forest-steppe regions of the European part of the USSR.” The article shows the results of its implementation and its importance for the country’s food and environmental security.
Keywords: agroforestry, protective afforestation, forest belts, drought, degradation, desertification, agro- landscapes, nature transformation plan
Funding.The work was carried out within the framework of the program of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation for the long-term period (2021-2030) 4.1.1. Agriculture, land reclamation, water and forestry.
Citation:Kulik K.N. 75 Years of the Nature Transformation Plan. Results and Lessons of Implementation. Scientific Agronomy Journal. 2023;4(123):08-15. DOI: 10.34736/FNC.2023.123.4.001.08-15
Received by the editorial office: 11/01/2023
Accepted for printing: 07.12.2023