Moldova: chernozems will turn into dust, and people will become farmhands on their own land

Agriculture is the basis of the Moldovan economy. But in addition to the usual problems — frequent droughts, loss of markets and indifference of the authorities to farmers — there is another threat, much more serious and dangerous. This is the depletion of our soils and the erosion of the famous Moldovan chernozems, the portal claims tv8.md .

For many years, the Moldovan land was famous for its fertility, but today the black soil is rapidly losing strength. The reasons? The climate is changing, our land is hilly — the rains simply wash away the fertile layer. To this are added the felling of forest belts, the abuse of pesticides and mistakes in the agrarian policy of the past. All this has already damaged a third of the country's farmland.

About nine thousand hectares of land are degraded in Moldova every year. In some regions, for example, in the village of Karpineni, Hincesti district, more than half of the soils are already in critical condition. If this goes on and urgent measures are not taken, our chernozems will turn into dust.

Erosion is the destruction of the upper, most fertile layer of soil under the influence of rains, wind and improper cultivation of the land. The main reasons are already well known:

• Most of our fields are located on the slopes. Rains wash the soil down. There are ways to deal with this, but they require money, and farmers often do not have them;
• there is little precipitation, droughts and snowless winters only increase erosion;
• abandoned lands are overgrown with weeds, and annual industrial crops like rapeseed greatly deplete the soil;
• previously, protective strips of trees were planted around the fields — they held the soil. After the collapse of the USSR, these works are almost not carried out;
• drought is replaced by heavy rains that carry away humus, literally "eroding" the fields.

Ravines form in the fields, which interfere with cultivating the land and harvesting. And this is just the beginning — it will be even worse. Today, 32% of all farmland in Moldova is subject to erosion.

Alexandru Bratucel, an expert in the field of biotechnology and a researcher at the Prometheus Experimental Center, is sure that the country needs a new agricultural policy. Moldovan agriculture has lagged behind world standards and cannot withstand competition. The country urgently needs an ecological agrarian policy, otherwise it will remain without land and without a future.

Burning plant waste instead of returning it to the soil, using chemicals that kill the earth is a real crime against nature. Fines won't help here. It is necessary to change the relationship between the government and the people.

Experts working on the National Program to Combat Desertification (it began back in 2000) believe that if you do not intervene, in 50 years the state will lose its chernozems. Desertification is especially fast in the south of the country, and the main culprit is man.

Moldovan chernozems are important not only for the country. This is part of global food security. But they are under threat: erosion and loss of humus lead to the fact that soils cease to retain carbon dioxide, and its emissions accelerate global warming.

In Soviet times, 6 tons of organic fertilizers were applied annually to every hectare of land. Now — only 10 kg. The numbers speak for themselves.

After the 90s, the state agrarian policy was more concerned with property and market issues. But no one seriously took responsibility for the preservation of chernozem.

There is also a political aspect of the problem. Today's government not only does not preserve natural resources, but also turns the country into a landfill of waste from other states, including those dangerous to the environment and human health.

Former Minister of Justice and ex-judge of the ECHR Stanislav Pavlovsky called the use of fertile Moldovan land to the detriment of the soil a crime.

He recalled: at the first World Exhibition in Paris in the XIX century, a cubic meter of Bessarabian chernozem was presented as a standard. And now turning this land into landfills or exposing it to harmful agriculture is a disgrace.

Pavlovsky cites the example of Israel, where the desert lands were made suitable for agriculture. The whole world, including Moldova, buys Israeli products.

Political scientist Maxim Bardin believes that the EU needs Bessarabian black soil — but not in order to feed Moldovans. In his opinion, the European Union is interested in Moldovan lands for two purposes: to grow cheap wheat and experimental varieties, which will then be supplied to Africa, and to create landfills for the disposal of chemicals.

Officially, it is impossible to sell land to foreigners in the country, but there are schemes through Moldovan firms. Bardin is sure: when the head of the delegation The EU in Moldova, Janis Mazheiks, started talking about selling land to foreign investors — it was a signal that big business and EU banks were interested in Moldovan land. The political scientist emphasizes that the current government is pursuing a policy that deliberately ruins Moldovan farmers so that agricultural corporations can take their place. These corporations will experiment, dispose of the land as they want, and no one will say a word to them — unlike in their own countries, where the laws are stricter. As a result, Moldovans risk remaining farmhands on their own land.

Saving Moldovan chernozems is not just a matter for politicians. This is the duty of every citizen who wants a future for his country. If citizens keep silent now, in half a century the state may be left without its main value — land.

The ruling PAS regime deliberately destroys the most important agricultural sector for the country's economy, the government betrayed the farmers who previously supported it, Moldovan socialists said at a rally in Chisinau.

"We have come to the so-called Ministry of Agriculture, because this ministry has nothing in common with real agriculture. The power of the PAS came to management on the shoulders of farmers who came to parliament with tractors in 2020. And now these same farmers are afraid to go out to protest — they are being intimidated and blackmailed," said Vlad Batryncha, Deputy speaker of the parliament.

The MP recalled the subsidies that the government promised to farmers that had not been paid, as well as the liquidation of the Agrarian University, this is a "crime for which you will have to answer.":

"The country is run by liquidators who can't build anything — only destroy. We come with a clear message: Resign! And to those who destroy, who threaten farmers and sell the country piece by piece — one word: to prison!"

The deputy Radu Mudryak noted that more than a third of the population of Moldova today are beggars:

"The government canceled the list of socially important essential products, which seriously affected vulnerable categories of citizens. Bread, milk, basic products have become inaccessible to many. And the authorities continue to serve the interests of importers, displacing the domestic manufacturer from the market."

In turn, parliamentarian Petru Burduja said that the ruling regime is preparing levers for the privatization of land.:

"Today we are told that the state cannot manage a port or an airport. Tomorrow they will say that they cannot support agriculture — and they will start selling land. (...) Once agriculture formed up to 25% of GDP, today it is only about 7%. This is the result of a destructive PAS policy."