WP3.1 Stakeholder Workshop 1 Report - Held in Djanybek, Volgograd Province, Russia, March 25-30, 2008
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DESIRE WB-3 Stakeholder Workshop 1 report WP3.1 Stakeholder Workshop 1 report - held in Djanybek, Volgograd Province, Russia, March 25-30, 2008. Authors: Anatoly Zeiliguer, Vyacheslav Semenov DESIRE series REPORT January 9th 2009 Moscow State University of Environmental Engineering, Moscow, Russia. Report number 35 Series: Workshop and Meeting Reports This report was written in the context of the Desire project www.desire-project.eu 0 DESIRE – WB3 WP 3.1 - Workshop Report 1 DESIRE – WB3 WP 3.1 - Workshop Report Stakeholder workshop 1 Land degradation and desertification – existing and potential prevention and conservation strategies Name of the study site: Djanybek, Volgograd province, Russia Date of workshop: 25-30 March 2008 (indicates overall time of workshop including preparatory work at Djanibek site done by authors of MSUEE team). Author(s): Anatoly Zeiliguer, Vyacheslav Semenov 2 DESIRE – WB3 WP 3.1 - Workshop Report I General information A) Workshop Workshop venue: District Pallasovka, Volgograd Region, Russia Workshop moderator(s): Anatoly Zeiliguer, Vyacheslav Semenov, MSUEE, Russia List of workshop participants: Mr. / First name, name Stakeholder category / institution Local or Ms. (e.g. land user, researcher, NGO, GO) external participant? (L / E) Mr. Anatolii Ivanovich GALICHKIN Head of administration of Pallasovsky region L Mr. Sergei Gennad'evich Head of administration of Pallasovka Town L KRIVONOSOV Mr. Aleksei Mihailovich BAKUMOV Head of Revolyutsionnyi village administration L Mr. Anatolii Satkanovich UTYUSHAV Head of Romashki village administration L Ms. Tamara Aleksandrovna KUZ”MINA Head of Komsomol'skii village administration L Ms. Lidiya Aleksandrovna MISYURINA Head of El'ton village administration L Mr. Vladimir Kirillovich LOZOVOI Head of Stepnoe village administration L Mr. Nikolai Vasil'evich SHIPAEV Head of Zavolzhskii village administration L Mr. Aleksandr Nikolaevich KASCHEEV Head of Gonchary village administration L Mr. Sergei Aleksandrovich BIRYUKOV Head of Kalashniki village administration L Ms. Mariya Ivanovna NAUMOVA Head of Vengelovskii village administration L Mr. Sergei Alekseevich SUSHKOV Head of Krasnyi Oktyabr' village L administration Ms. Natal'ya Ivanovna SKOBELEVA Head of Savinka village administration L Mr. Viktor Vladimirovich Head of Kaisatskii village administration L GAIVORONOVSKII Mr. Zharashan Nurhaevich Head of Limannyi village administration L ZHOLMUHANBETOV Mr. Aleksandr Vladimirovich LUKIN Head of Priozernyi village administration L Mr. Aleksei Romanovich SAITOV Assistant of the head of Pallasovka Town L administration Mr. Leonid Vladimirovich MARTYNOV The major hydraulic engineer of Agriculture L department Mr. Yurii Aleksandrovich BURYATKO Assistant of the head of Agriculture L department Ms. Tat'yana Leonidovna ZHIDKOVA The major agronomist of department of L Agriculture Ms. Galina Faustovna SOKOLOVA Agricultural researcher, specialist in E vegetables Mr. Nikolai Davydovich SOBOLEV Small farm holder L 3 DESIRE – WB3 WP 3.1 - Workshop Report Mr. Vladimir Nikolaevich BURBUN Head of private farm «Romashkovskii» L Mr. Valerii Fedorovich SUSHILIN Head of Department of Hydrogeology and L Land Reclamation Ms. Svetlana Vladimirovna SUSHILINA Assistant of the head of Department of L Hydrogeology and Land Reclamation Mr. Anatoly Mikhailovich ZEILIGUER Professor of Moscow State University of E Environmental Engineering Mr. Vyacheslav Nikolaevich Ph D student of Moscow State University of E SEMENOV Environmental Engineering B) Background The “Djanibek” study area is situated on the territory of Pallasovsky District of Volgograd Region of Russian Federation. Surface of Pallasovsky district is around 250 km2 with 150 thousands of habitants. Predominant types of land use are: breeding, and cropping. The main desertification processes on the territory are weak manifestation of water erosion (26% of agricultural lands) and deflation (1% of agricultural lands, the latter is specific for light sediments), moderate and strong soil salinization (17% of agricultural lands). The “Djanibek” study area is belonging to Elton Lake Province of steppe Zavolzhie and is classified as desertification province of dry steppe. Steppe Zavolzhie is positioned on the North-Western part of Caspian lowland territory. The Caspian lowland (2.9 million ha between Volga and Ural rivers) represents a unique territory in Europe with change from steppe to semidesert ecosystems. Semidesert in fact is a transitional zone to real deserts of Asia. Human-induced degradation and desertification were drastically accelerated in the last century under anthropogenic pressure. The North-Western part of it is an ideal plain slightly inclined toward the Caspian Sea with absolute heights less than 50 m asl. This territory is poorly drained and without any distinct water flow network, but with well-pronounced meso- and microrelief. The plain is composed of thick slightly saline heavy loams deposited as a result of the Caspian Sea Quaternary transgressions. The microelevations are occupied by solonchakous solonetz soils (>50% of the plain) under desert Artemisia pauciflora associations. The microslopes (about 25% of the plain) are occupied by light-chestnut solonetz face soils under dry- steppe vegetation (Pyrethrum associations). The microdepressions are occupied by meadow-chestnut soils developing under forb-grassy steppe vegetation with predomination of Festuca sulcata. Solonetz complexes are potential pasture grounds. In Volgograd oblast they occupy 3481.7 thousand ha or 40% of the total area of agricultural lands. Substantial increase of desertification in this region was before the 90s, the main human induced factors were plowing of marginal lands together with the growth of livestock number. Stocking level increase in favorable climatic years was twofold, in the years with mean climatic conditions – 4 times, in unfavorable years – 8.5 times. These processes have been caused by replacement plowing agriculture on sheep breeding with deterioration of a climatic situation. (Question CDE: Do I understand correctly: the worse the climatic conditions the higher were stocking rates?? Or in other words: in bad times people rely more on livestock production? Answer: In worse conditions people are more confined to livestock production than crop production). 4 DESIRE – WB3 WP 3.1 - Workshop Report Even the threefold decrease of the total number of livestock observed in the past decade did not result in a considerable improvement of the state of pastures (with the exception of remote homesteads). Since 1991, a sharp decrease of gross agricultural output is observed in the oblast. Decreasing production output and incomes (more than twice as compared to 1990) resulted in a decrease of demand for agricultural machines, equipment, fertilizers, pesticides, etc., especially in the semidesert Zavolzhje steppe. In 1999-2000, the oblast's administration considered the expediency and possibility of moving population from the southern part of Pallasovsky region to regions with a more favorable natural situation. At present, many former plowing lands are abandoned or set-aside. Agricultural lands occupy 76.8%, arable land 51.7%, hayfields 1.8%, pastures 23.2%, forests 3.4% of the total area of the oblast. Up to 80% of agricultural land is exposed to desertification. Population density in rural areas is relatively low, 8.4 people per km2; or 11.9 ha of agricultural land per 1 countryman, but due to desertification processes in reality this index is lower – only 6.4 ha. Average yield loss (presumably a result of the combination of degradation and climate change) in cereal equivalent is about 1.03 t ha-1 per each countryman. At the beginning of XXI century, the area of eroded lands in the oblast made up 2220.5 thousand ha (26% of agricultural lands). Arable land occupies the major part of it – 1346 thousand ha. The area of deflated soils made up 87.3 thousand ha (1%), out of them 46.8 thousand ha on arable land. The area of saline lands had made 1436.5 thousand ha (17%) by the beginning of 2001, including 691.6 thousand ha on arable land. Very severe damage was caused to pastures – ¾ of pasture areas are at different stages of digression. Only 40 thousand ha are used for irrigation, 76% of the formerly irrigated lands were withdrawn because of land abandonment and secondary salinization with water table rise as the main consequences of irrigated agriculture. Erosion leads to soil organic matter losses, annual loss figures 2-3 times exceed accumulation. In semidesert Zavolzhje the use of intrazonal soils on brackish lagoons and depressions of the mesorelief as the best productivity areas was a long-term practice. Such system of land use is well combined with traditional meat-wool stockbreeding. Depressions occupy 10-15% of the study area. Brackish lagoons under cheap border irrigation were commonly used for haying as well for grazing on harvest-field and in 1970-80s provided 500 thousand tones of hay in Volgograd Oblast. Currently only one half from 58.6 thousand ha is used and hay yield usually not more than 2 t ha-1 instead of the expected 3.5-4 t ha-1. ¾ of water resources for irrigation are provided by water supply channels from Volga River and ¼ by local water sources generally based on harvesting of water melt from snow. The local irrigation system is composed of two systems. The first system consists of several hundreds of km of water supply channels, pumping water from the Volga River or from its tributaries. These ending in the artificial