Assessing Variability of Soil Quality in Western Kazakhstan: Dynamic Effects of Grazing Practices
Preserving the quality of pastoral ecosystem soil is crucially important for the production of nutritionally complete feed for the livestock industry as part of ensuring national food security. In Kazakhstan, such useful tools include soil assessment and evaluation of dynamic changes in soil properties in connection with agricultural grazing. The purpose of the study is to assess the current conditions of pasture soil in Western Kazakhstan using classical field research methods and popular methods of laboratory analysis. The study conducted in the semi-desert zone of Western Kazakhstan based on the Miras peasant farm demonstrates that rotational grazing is more optimal for maintaining and preserving soil quality compared to intensive agricultural grazing without breaks. Results demonstrate that rotational grazing maintains soil quality more effectively than intensive grazing. Specifically, under intensive grazing, humus content significantly decreased by 0.47%, while rotational grazing showed minimal changes (decrease of 0.09% in field 1 and 0.05% in field 2). Humus stock was also better preserved in rotational grazing fields, with only a 3.07-4.68% reduction, compared to a 27.05% decrease under intensive grazing. These findings suggest that rotational grazing can significantly mitigate the degradation effects of agricultural grazing on soil properties. The physical (density, structure) and chemical (humus content, humus stock, mobile phosphorous, exchangeable sodium) properties were found to be optimal on pastures where rotational grazing was employed. The conducted research is useful for assessing pasture soil properties and in taking measures to prevent potential degradation of pasture soil in the region. In addition, the findings will be useful in the evaluation of agricultural land in connection with its economic use in many countries with similar methods of pasture ecosystem management.
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