The Department of soil agrichemistry was formed from the Laboratory of soil chemistry, which existed since the establishment of the Institute (1945). Its leaders were E.S. Sushko, Yu.F. Pil, I.I.Emelyanov, I.S.Mezhenin, K.I.Imangaziyev, P.G.Grabarov, S.N.Fedosov, Cand.Ag.Sc. S.M.Seifullina.

On the basis of the Laboratory of soil chemistry and soil-agrichemical research, the Department of agrichemistry was established in 2008; the heads of department were Dr.Ag.Sc. B.U.Suleimenov, Cand.Ag.Sc. G.A. Saparov.

Since 2020, the head of department is Candidate Ag.Sc. Amirov Bakhytbek Mustafauly. There are 9 researchers in the department, of which 1 Doctor Ag.Sc., 4 Candidates of sciences. 

Main research areas

- agrochemical survey of agricultural land and creation of agrochemical cartograms of fields, development of rational methods of soil fertility restoration;

- study and development of effective methods of optimizing plant nutrition and metabolism the help of fertilizers;

- development of recommendations on the use of fertilizers, plant growth regulators in agriculture.

 Services provided by the department

- soil-agrochemical survey of lands and creation of agrochemical cartograms of fields and recommendations on  their effective use;

- scientific and practical support of systems for the use of bioorganic, biomineral fertilizers, domestic bio products and growth stimulants;

- consulting services on making agrochemical cartograms, rational use of agricultural land and introduction of results of scientific developments and technologies into production.

Main achievements

Agrichemical studies of past years covered the issues of studying the effectiveness of microfertilizers on leading agricultural crop areas. During this period, vegetation and field work was carried out to test microelements and assessment of their impact on crop productivity in the conditions of the north, south, and southeast of Kazakhstan.

In the period from 1955 to 1970, studies on  effective use of microelements (copper, boron, manganese) for sugar beet and spring wheat in the fields of the state farm "Abai", Kaskelen district, Alma-Ata region, on meadow gray earth and light chestnut soils, were conducted, in which microfertilizer forms - pure salts, industrial waste and unenriched ores were tested.

In 1960-1975 the researchers studied soils of the regions of Kazakhstan for concentration of gross and mobile forms of microelements (boron, manganese, zinc, molybdenum, cobalt and copper), according to which cartograms of concentration of microelements were developed on a scale of 1:2500000. In total, 10 thousand samples from 2300 soil profiles were analyzed. Studies have shown that soils of Kazakhstan are relatively well supplied with boron and manganese, low supplied with zinc, molybdenum and cobalt, low and medium supplied with mobile copper. It is recommended to apply copper and manganese fertilizers in irrigation conditions for main crops, and on dry land - copper, zinc and molybdenum microfertilizers.

In 1963-1966 in Dzhambyl region, at Novotroitsky state farm, slags from Ust-Kamenogorsk metal products plant were tested as fertilizers. It was found that the use of slags increases the yield of sugar beet by 28 c/ha, the use of flotation tailings - by 30 c/ha.

On  dark gray soils of Chimkent experimental station, under irrigation conditions in  foliar top dressing with 0.5% solutions of copper, zinc and cobalt salts, the yield of winter wheat increased by 15.9; 7.1 and 15.2%.

These studies made it possible to give a scientific justification for the effectiveness of their application and use of large reserves of copper ores and various wastes from non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises for processing into microfertilizers with low costs.

Along with these studies, the researchers of the department carried out the works on agrochemical soil survey in Kzyl-Orda region on an area of 93 thous. ha in 33 farms, for which agrochemical cartograms of supply of soils with nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) and instructions on use of fertilizers were developed. Based on the works carried out jointly with the Ministry of Agriculture of the Kazakh SSR in 1964, instructions on creation of agrochemical cartograms in state farms and collective farms were published.

In 1966-1975 desk processing of analytical data on concentration of humus, gross and mobile forms of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in soils of the northern and southern regions of Kazakhstan was carried out. The concentration of these macroelements was calculated for arable, half-meter and one-meter layers.

From 2005 to 2020, the staff of the Department of agrichemistry carried out research works on the following projects:

- agrichemical and agriecological support of agricultural production, in the framework of which 52,555 hectares of rainfed land in the South Kazakhstan region were surveyed;

- soil-geochemical studies in the framework of the “Program of joint instrumental monitoring of the impact of  processes of preparation and launches of the LV "Zenit-2SLB" and "Zenit-3SLV" from the RBDN-SLB of the Baikonur Cosmodrome on the environment during the launch of  Amos-3 spacecraft”; as well as in conducting  soil-geochemical studies as part of a comprehensive environmental survey of the fall area of  separating parts of the RS-20 ICBM and  adjacent territory, selected on the Ustyurt Plateau, together with the Infracos-Ecos;

- "Monitoring of pollution of arable land of cotton-growing farms of  Makhtaaral district of the South Kazakhstan region with heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd, Ni)";

- "Development of effective methods for the use of liquid complex fertilizers in  conditions of Kazakhstan";

- "Development of technologies for conservation and effective reproduction of soil fertility and criteria for assessing their parameters";

- "Preservation of soil fertility using vertical drainage in cotton growing and determination of soil-reclamation state";

- "Development of environmentally safe technology for cotton growing in conditions of grey soils subject to secondary salinization using adaptogen preparation";

- "To develop effective methods of using sulfur containing fertilizers for crops";

- "Introduction of innovative technology to improve soil fertility and crop yields (bioorganic fertilizers)"

Currently, staff members are working on STP " Scientific-technological support for  conservation and reproduction of fertility of agricultural lands, BP 267 "Improving the availability of knowledge and researches", where production tests are being conducted  to study the effect of humic bio preparations on arable land fertility and crop productivity (winter wheat, soybean, sugar beet, rice and corn) and differentiated use of fertilizers for given yields of potatoes, onions, cotton and melons and development of recommendations based on new standards on coefficients of using fertilizers from soil and fertilizers, and creation of  model of  formation of given yields of major agricultural crops.

International cooperation:

Completed works:

- Grant of the International Scientific and Technical Center (Moscow) K-486: "Methods of agro-amelioration for solving the problems of soil density and its fertility in  cotton production on irrigated grey soils";

-  project with JSC "Belarusian Potash Company" to test potash fertilizers for cotton, potatoes, rice, in  conditions of the south and southeast of Kazakhstan;

In the framework of the International Union of Agrochemists and Agroecologists of the CIS, for the purpose of international integration, the following studies were carried out:

- "Improvement of organization and metrology of research in the Interstate Geographical Network of Experiments with Fertilizers" - coordinator D.N.Pryanishnikov All-Russian Research Institute of Agrochemistry (Moscow, Russian Federation);

- "Development of effective systems of fertilizers application in combination with other methods of agricultural technology to prevent soil fertility degradation" - coordinator U.U.Uspanov Kazakh Research Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry (Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan);

- "Improvement of agroservice on agrochemical support of modern agriculture" - coordinator of the RI of Soil Science and Agrochemistry and Chernyshevsky Agrochemical Center (Ukraine); "Research on ecological function in agrochemistry and agroecosystems" - coordinator of the RI of Soil Science and Agrochemistry (Minsk, Republic of Belarus).

Participation in International Conferences and Workshops:

1. Participation in the Workshop “Establishment of the International Network of Soil Information Institutions (INSII)” UNFAO, Rome, Italy, December 8-10, 2015.

2. International Conference on  Development of the Eurasian Network for Food Security and  Eurasian Soil Partnership, February 2016

3. Agrochemical Forum of Asia, March 14-16, 2016

4. Visit to the Center for Agrolandscape Research in Müchenberg, Germany, June 2016

5. III International Symposium on Earth Observation in Arid and Semi-Arid Zones. "Remote sensing of the earth along the Great Silk Road". Report “Soil Status in ecosystem in arid zone of Kazakhstan” September 19-21, 2016

6. Forum of National research organizations on the theme "Initiatives of the Belt and Road" and session "Environment and sustainable development" on theme: Report "Ecological issues of soil surface and environment of the Republic of Kazakhstan and ways of their solution" 7 -8 November 2016.

Based on the results of long-term researches, the department staff published more than 400 scientific papers, including recommendations for production, and monographs.

The future of soil and agrochemical research in the country is seen in the development of the following priority areas:

- according to the Geographical network of experiments with fertilizers based on  creation of stationary monitoring sites for  main soil types of the RK (on the basis of regional subsidiaries of NJSC "NASEC") for the effective management of soil resources, solving issues of environmental safety of agrocenoses, gaining knowledge on mineral nutrition of plants and methods of its optimization, improvement of efficiency of fertilizer application

- on landscape agrochemistry, taking into account the conditions and degree of compliance of  productivity of agrocenoses with soil fertility level,  fertilization and  degree of intensification of agriculture and development of system of differentiated application of fertilizers using program-devices of precision farming to improve reliability of forecasting fertility indicators and development of crop productivity management techniques (jointly  with specialized institutes).

- study of effectiveness and safety of new forms and types of macro- and microfertilizers, biostimulants, bio products, etc. (by analogy with plant protection products, veterinary drugs, etc.).

-improvement of methodology of development of agrochemical standards for indicators of removal and utilization factors of nutrients from mineral fertilizers and soil; crop yield increase from the use of MF and OF; regulatory doses of MF in intensive farming

-fundamental research on physiology and biochemistry of mineral nutrition in conjunction with specialized institutes of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

-development of  system of agrochemical and agroecological monitoring according to uniform methods and creation of a single information resource based on modern IT technologies for data systematizing and accumulation and making optimal decisions on the use of soil and land resources and use of fertilizers