Assessment of the Natural Resource Potential of the Agricultural Territory of Omsk Oblast

The studies were conducted to assess the totality of natural resources of the agrolandscapes of the southern taiga forest, forest-steppe, and steppe zones of Omsk oblast. The calculation was performed using equations in which the point indicators of heat, moisture supply, and soil fertility were arranged in descending order of their influence on the value of natural resource potential. Agroclimatic conditions were characterized by heat and moisture supply of zones based on the average long-term data on the sum of air temperatures above +10°C and precipitation per year. The soil properties were assessed for the types occupying the largest area in arable land. The most favorable conditions for agriculture have developed in the forest-steppe and steppe zones; their resources are estimated at 41…44 points and correspond to the average level. The warm and moderately humid climate of the forest-steppe is close to optimal for cultivating agricultural crops (hydrothermal coefficient 1.0…1.4). The assessment of heat and moisture supply in points was 44…60 and 37…51, respectively. In moderately hot but insufficiently humid steppe regions (hydrothermal coefficient of 0.9), agroclimatic resources were assessed with the maximum number of points for the temperature regime (57…60 points) and the minimum for the amount of precipitation (25…28 points). Soil resources of the forest-steppe and steppe are represented by fertile soils: ordinary chernozems, southern and meadow-chernozem soils, whose level of fertility was estimated at 60…67 points. Saline, solonetzic varieties of these soils, as well as chernozem-meadow and meadow soils, have an average level of fertility, and their assessment score was 40…58. Low fertility and a minimum (34…38) score were set for solonetz. The reduced natural resource agro-potential (38 points) of the southern taiga forest zone is associated with the low quality of sod-podzolic soils (27 points). According to agroclimatic conditions, the zone is characterized as moderately warm and well-moistened (hydrothermal coefficient 1.4…1.6); the point assessment of heat supply by districts was 38…43, and moisture supply was 37…43.