Biogeosystem Technique (BGT*) Methodology Will Provide Semiarid Landscape Sustainability (A Case of the South Russia Volgograd Region Soil Resources)

Abstract

The science and political initiatives focus is not only concerning agricultural intensification for food security and human development. The prevention of land degradation and loss is important, and a new land-use technological platform is needed for human well-being and the ecosystem service coupling. An adverse change in the soil quality of the steppe terrain under the standard agriculture is revealed, and the dynamics of the ecosystem service is assessed. The results indicated that the standard land-use practice deteriorates stability of the soil cover, failing to ensure the soil productivity and the ecosystem services in a dry terrain. For land degradation prevention and soil-environmental services refinement, a new transcendental Biogeosystem Technique (BGT*) technological platform was developed. The BGT* is capable of providing long-term, sustainable land-use management. The BGT* methodology includes intra-soil milling, intra-soil pulse continually discrete watering, and intra-soil waste recycling. The BGT* is a basis for future political initiatives in land-use management to prevent land degradation and loss, to increase soil productivity, and to provide soil-environmental services.

1. Introduction

Current science and political initiatives are focused on agricultural intensification to improve food security and guarantee the development of human civilization [1]. The social processes and land-use practices are tightly coupled, and a need to emphasize the importance of well-functioning ecosystems for human well-being became obvious in the world in recent years [2,3]. Consequently, the future scientific and political initiatives are to prevent land degradation and loss [4]. A better understanding of the ecosystem services in different regions of the world, as well as the features of the soil cover, is of great importance for furnishing the global soil safety and improving the soil management technology [5,6].

The dry lands comprise approximately 41% of the Earth’s land surface [7]. In this terrain, the biogeochemical cycle affects biological productivity and the current and future stability of the biosphere and the climate. The land use alters the dry land dynamics, and therefore, is important for soil carbon stable cycling and improved soil-ecosystem services [8]. Accordingly, the innovative improvements in the land services [9] are to be aimed at the biogeochemical cycling and food crop growth [10,11]. This will help to mitigate global food insecurity, to overcome the multi-hazard environmental risks [12], to offset the climate change [13,14], and to alleviate climate-change impacts on soil resources [15], ensuring the bio-based carbon controlled economy [16,17]. Consequently, the technological development of the land use will allow social stability.

The paradox is that the improvement in human well-being via economic development turns out to be illusive because of the myopic short-termism, managerial shirking, and underinvestment in innovations. There are no reliable instruments to provide qualified heuristic long-term evaluation and selection of the institutional innovations [18]. Consequently, the outdated land-use technological framework reduces the ability of the land fund to sustain the ecosystem services [19]. The capability of nanotechnology, as a simple and cheap measure to decide the agricultural and environmental problems, is a growing concern [20].

Concerning the negative natural properties of the land fund and adverse technological impact on the ecosystem services, there is a need to overcome the drivers of soil degradation [21,22]. Therefore, the institutional innovations are important for the long-term soil productivity and stability of the environment [23]. Thus, a bidirectional linkage between social and soil-environmental processes will be optimized [1].

The aim of the study was to characterize the adverse properties of the dry terrain soil resources in an example from South Russia, Volgograd region, and to present the new innovative developments based on the Biogeosystem Technique (BGT*) methodology to improve the human well-being of dryland people.

2. Object

A territory of the Volgograd region (Figure 1) is a part of a Lower Volga region, which includes the Republic of Kalmykia, Astrakhan region, Volgograd region, a river Volga valley, and a Caspian lowland. The geological structure of the Lower Volga region comprises Cenozoic, Mesozoic, and Paleozoic groups overlain by the Holocene deposits. The parent rocks are the cover loams, outcrops of the sea sands, flakes, and lime stones.

The climate of the Lower Volga region is sharply continental, and the amplitude of the annual air temperature is 33–35 °C. In summer, the air and soil temperature is high, air humidity suffers shortages, and evaporation dominates [24]. A minimum average temperature of the soil at a depth of 0.2 m reaches −9.4 °C in January. A maximum average soil temperature at a depth of 0.2 m is 29 °C in July and August [25]. Total solar radiation rate is approximately 113 kcal cm⁻² and adversely affects a soil biological process. Sunshine lasts for 2265 h a year. The period with air temperature above 0 °C is circa 235–260 days and up to 300 days in the southern part of the Volgograd region. The sum of the air temperature above 10 °C is 3400–3600 °C, and the annual balance of energy comprises 49.8 kcal cm⁻² (

Table 1. Solar radiation in the Lower Volga region *.

Month	Number of Days without Sunshine	Total Radiation, kcal cm−2	Radiation Balance, kcal cm−2	The Duration of Sunshine, Hours
January	18	2.6	−0.2	70
February	10	4.3	0.6	101
March	6	8.7	2.8	132
April	2	11.8	6.2	212
May	1	16.3	8.8	296
June	0	16.9	9.0	312
July	0	16.9	8.9	331
August	0	14.7	7.7	299
September	1	10.3	4.2	245
October	6	6.1	1.7	159
November	11	3.2	0.2	65
December	19	1.7	−0.1	43
Year	74	113.4	49.8	2265

* The radiation balance: solar energy concentrated on the soil surface (kcal cm⁻² per hour) and reflected (or not used) energy (kcal cm⁻² per hour).

). Due to high air temperature and lack of precipitation, the moisturizing coefficient of the territory is 0.6–0.7.

In the Volga region, the weather regime is anticyclonic. The annual precipitation is low and varies from 270 mm or even less to 450 mm, decreasing in the northwest–southeast direction. Correspondingly, the lack of moisture in the spring–summer period increases from northwest to southeast. The hot weather lasts approximately 4–5 months over the year. The drought comes every 2–3 years.

The aridity of the climate and the complexity of terrain relief affected the soil water regime, flux and accumulation of nutrients, accumulation and mineralization of the soil organic matter (SOM), development of the soil microbiome, organogenesis of the plant and animal communities, and the soil genesis and evolution in general. Consequently, the soils of the region have a short depth profile and a depleted humus layer in comparison with the soils of a similar type in other regions of the world. The SOM content is low. The land use in the region depends on the soil cover features.

The Volgograd region terrain is a steppe and semi-desert area [26]. The average morphological and physicochemical properties of the soil cover are presented in

Table 2. Soil properties.

Soil Type	Bonitet Score, Points	Horizons AB Depth, cm	SOM Content in 0–25 cm Layer, %	SOM Stock, t ha−1	Soil Density, g cm−3	pH	CCE, mmol 100 g−1 SDW
Haplic Chernozem	102.6	46	6.3	260	1.10	6.9	41.2
Calcic Chernozem	100.5	40	4.7	180	1.18	7.2	36.0
Haplic Kastanozem Pachic	92.2	35	3.4	120	1.20	7.4	29.6
Gypsic Kastanozem	82.7	33	2.5	80	1.24	7.8	27.8
Endosalic Calcisols	75.8	31	1.8	50	1.27	8.0	26.9
Salic Solonetz	17.3	33	2.2	60	1.38	8.1	28.6

and

Table 3. Water and geophysical properties (in example of the Endosalic Calcisols).

Soil Layer, cm	Density, gcm−3		Porosity, %	Water Field Capacity, %	Humidity, %
	Volume	Solid Phase
0–10	1.31	2.62	50.4	22.6	8.1
10–20	1.35	2.63	48.4	22.3	8.6
20–30	1.41	2.65	47.5	21.1	9.9
30–40	1.46	2.68	45.6	20.7	10.5
40–50	1.46	2.68	45.5	19.2	9.7
50–60	1.49	2.70	44.5	17.3	9.0
60–70	1.50	2.70	45.2	16.9	8.6
70–80	1.51	2.71	44.5	15.8	8.1
80–90	1.52	2.72	44.2	15.5	6.6
90–100	1.52	2.72	44.3	13.8	5.8
0–100	1.45	2.68	46.01	18.5	8.4

[27,28,29,30,31,32].

In the Volgograd region, the soil types and subtypes change from the Haplic Chernozem to the Endosalic Calcisols in the northwest–southeast direction [25]. This is a manifestation of a Russian plain natural zoning due to a change in the heat and moisture. A diversity of the climate and parent rock allows extrapolating of the Volgograd region soil cover patterns to a vast specter of similar dry terrains in the world.

According to a history of the land geological development, the Volgograd region territory comprises natural-historical areas as follows.

• Area of the ancient glaciation. The parent rocks are covering and glacial clays and loams, and the Chernozem spreads here.
• Area of non-glacial denudation and accumulative-denudation of relief forms. The soils formed on the Quaternary loam and outcrops of older rocks, which are clays, sandstones, sands, chalk, limestone, flakes. Some rocks are saline. The Kastanozem spreads here.
• Area of the juvenile marine Caspian plain on marine saline clays. The Saline Kastanozem and saline soil complexes spread here.

According to the heterogeneous geological conditions, a list of soil taxonomic units includes approximately 3000 items [33]. To a great extent, soil cover diversity is linked to the land degradation and a consequent impoverishment of the phytocenosis and agrophytocenosis. In addition, an unsatisfactory plant organogenesis contributes to the spread of phytopathogens, deteriorating land productivity.

3. Methodology

3.1. Methods of the Study

Environmental and economic valuation of the soil-based ecosystem services affords sustainable soil management. In this paper, we focused on the soil valuation studies on the ecosystems in the Volgograd region, using the stock materials of the soil and agrochemical long-term studies and accounting for a world experience [34,35,36,37].

In Russia, an evaluation of the soil-related ecosystem services envisages the soil quality assessment in pedogenetic, relief, erosion, deflation, climate, and biological production comparative terms. An evaluation provides a qualitative economical land assessment. In particular, the data of the Red Data Book of Soils of Volgograd region and the world level knowledge in the field were accounted for [38,39,40,41].

Geophysical hierarchy, texture, structure, and aggregation of the soil porous media help to stabilize different interfaces in the soil [42]. This allows for organic matter synthesis, flora and fauna development, improvement of the soil quality, and fertility [23,43,44,45]. The soil geophysical properties were investigated by standard methods according to Klute [46]: the density was determined by the intact core method. For this, a metal ring was pressed into the soil cross-section wall, and soil moisture was determined by oven drying at 105 °C. The salinization of the soil profile and vadose zone were analyzed using standard methods [47]. To determine the soil dry residue content, oven drying at 105 °C was used. The pH value was measured at a temperature of 20 °C using a potentiometric method by glass electrode (ion meter TITAN, Tom Analit Ltd., Saint Petersburg, Russia). To determine the content of carbonate and bicarbonate anions, a direct titration with 0.01 M hydrochloric acid was used with an endpoint by a standard indicator change of color. The standard chemical methods were used to determine the content of Cl⁻, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, and SO₄²⁻. To measure the content of Na⁺, a flame photometer PFP7 was used (JENWAY, Felsted, UK).

3.2. Soil Bonitet

The data on soil bonitet are helpful to compare the productivity of lands. The soils with a high bonitet score are valuable, thus, providing social feedback in the form of a high production result in society activity on the land fund. The soils with a low bonitet score have low productivity, and societal stability is weak in the land fund [38]. We applied an open soil bonitet scale widely used in Russia. The integral bonitet score was expressed in points. In the Volgograd region, to assess a soil bonitet score, one soil section, four half-sections, and five pits were foreseen per 40 hectares of agricultural land.

In the steppe zone, the main indicators of the soil bonitet calculation are the SOM relative content and SOM stock (reserve) in the arable layer, thickness and granulometric composition of the humus horizon, and the content of physical clay [48].

The Haplic Chernozem received 100 points in the bonitet score: SOM content 5%, humus horizon thickness 50 cm, humus reserve 280 t ha⁻¹, and physical clay content 60% [49,50,51].

3.3. Calculation of the Soil Bonitet

Based on a soil bonitet appraisal, there are three land-appraisal areas identified in the Volgograd region territory [52]. In particular, a first land assessment area of 2407.6 ha (24.70% of the Volgograd region territory total land area) is confined mainly by the Haplic Chernozem and the Calcic Chernozem. In a second land-assessment area of 1455.8 ha (17.05% of the total land area) a prevailing soil subtype is Haplic Kastanozem Pachic. A third land-assessment area of 4673.3 hectares (58.25% of the total land area) comprises Gypsic Kastanozem and Endosalic Calcisols in complexes with Salic Solonetz. Every land-estimated area has its individual indexes of bonitet correction, assigned via an expert procedure accounting for the spatial heterogeneity of the soil cover [33,49].

Maps were made in the 2GIS software environment.

Calculations of the associated errors and statistical significance of the data were performed with Statisticav.10.0.1011, developed by StatSoft (Tulsa, OK, USA). All data presented in the tables and in the text are statistically significant at the level of p < 0.05.

4. Results

4.1. Soil Properties

The continental climate, parent rock, and variable precipitations determine the diversity of the soil properties in the Volgograd region, which is typical in the dry terrain of the world. Knowledge of a variety of properties of the dry land soils is important in a well-based ecosystem service development that will be capable of providing human well-being. Visualization of the land perception allows for a better understanding of their spread, diversity, and identifying the ways to improve the soils. The Volgograd region main soil zones are presented in

Table 4. Volgograd region main soil zones distribution.

Soil Zone	Soil Subtype	Administrative District	Soil Zone Location
Chernozem	Haplic Chernozem	Novonikolaevsky, Uryupinsky, and Nekhaevsky	Strip along the northwestern border of region
	Calcic Chernozem	Kikvidzensky, Novoanninsky, Mikhailovsky, Danilovsky, Elansky, Rudnyansky, Alekseevsky, and Kumylzhensky	Strip along the Haplic Chernozem soil zone from the western to the northern border of region
Kastanozem	Haplic Kastanozem Pachic	Zhirnovsky, Kotovsky, Frolovsky, Olkhovsky, Serafimovichi, and Kletsky	Strip along the Calcic Chernozem subzone from the western to the northern border of region
	Gypsic Kastanozem	Kamyshinsky, Dubovsky, Surovikinsky, Chernyshkovsky, Staropoltavsky, Nikolaevsky, and Bykovsky	Two areas: Strip from the western border of region between the Haplic Kastanozem Pachiczone and Don river valley; Strip from the northern border of region along the Haplic Kastanozem Pachicon on both banks of the Volga river
	Endosalic Calcisols	Ilovlinsky, Gorodishchensky, Kalachevsky, Oktyabrsky, Kotelnikovsky, Pallasovsky, Leninsky, Sredneakhtubinsky, and Svetloyarsky	Strip along the southeastern border of region

and in Figures S1–S8 in the Supplementary Materials. Corresponding explanations of the soil properties are presented below in support of the findings of this study.

In the Volgograd region, Chernozem is formed on the glider terrain under the long-term grassy vegetation, namely, herb, fescue, and feather associations. The Chernozem soil zone comprises 21.7% of the land-use area of the Volgograd region and spreads to the northwest of the Volgograd region [26]. The Chernozem arable layer is a horizon A, which is sometimes mixed with a horizon B1 by plowing. The humus content in the arable layer is circa 5.5–7.5%. The Chernozem in the Volgograd region is presented in two soil subtypes.

In the virgin Haplic Chernozem, the SOM content in the horizon A is up to 7.8%, and at a depth of 40–50 cm, it is approximately 5.5 %. Therefore, the SOM stock is as high as 400–450 t ha⁻¹. As a rule, light clay or heavy loam prevail in a granulometric composition of the Haplic Chernozem. The soil is silty-coarse-lumpy or coarse-dusty-silty and enriched with fractions of coarse dust (0.05–0.01 mm) and silt (less than 0.001 mm). In the soil profile of the Haplic Chernozem, the humus horizon A thickness is 25–40 cm; the color is dark gray, almost black; and the soil structure is granular or lumpy-granular. The thickness of the transitional horizon B1 is 20–35 cm, the color is dark gray with a brown tint, and the structure is granular-fine-lumpy or lumpy-prismatic. The illuvial-carbonate horizon B2 has a brown color, and its structure is prismatic. The Haplic Chernozem contains calcium and magnesium carbonates at a depth of 50–60 cm. The pH value of a water suspension is neutral from 6.2 to 7.2, favorable for crops. The arable layer density is approximately 1.00–1.05 g cm⁻³. The soil cation exchange capacity is high, from 35 to 50 mmol 100 g⁻¹ SDW, and the proportion of Ca accounts for 80%. The exchangeable potassium content is at an average level. The content of mobile phosphorus in the soil is small since the saturation of the soil with calcium procures a low mobility of phosphates [30]. The Haplic Chernozem has the highest natural fertility of all soils in the Volgograd region and spreads in the Novonikolaevsky, Uryupinsky, and Nekhaevsky districts (Figure S1a–d).

The Haplic Chernozem and the Calcic Chernozem spread in the Kikvidzensky, Novoanninsky, Mikhailovsky, and Danilovsky districts (Figure S2a–e).

The Calcic Chernozem spreads in the Elansky, Rudnyansky, Alekseevsky, Kumylzhensky districts (Figure S3a–e).

The subtype of the Chernozem soil is Calcic Chernozem, which spreads in the Buzuluk and Medveditsa rivers interfluve. The Calcic Chernozem occupies the larger area compared to the Haplic Chernozem. The territory of the Calcic Chernozem spread has a lower precipitation than that of the Haplic Chernozem. Therefore, the thickness of the AB horizons is 30–50 cm. AS a result of weak precipitation, the carbonates occur in the upper and middle part of the horizon B2. The upper soil layer density is 1.10–1.15 g cm⁻³. The SOM content is from 4.5 to 6.0%. The total SOM reserve is circa 200–250 t ha⁻¹ on the plateaus and low-lying slopes of the watersheds and is circa 150–200 t ha⁻¹ on the slopes. In the arable soil layer of the Calcic Chernozem, the pH is neutral 6.8–7.3. The soil cation exchange capacity is 35–42 mmol per 100 g⁻¹ SDW. Mobile phosphorus availability for plants is low, and the availability of the exchangeable potassium is medium or high. The biological potential of the Calcic Chernozem is quite high, but the average fertility is lower than that of the Haplic Chernozem.

Both Chernozem subtypes are used as arable land.

The Kastanozem zone spreads to the southeast from the Chernozem zone. The area of the Kastanozem is 4986.2 thousand hectares (44.1% of the Volgograd land fund). Because of poor soil moisture, only the easily soluble salts are leached from the root layer. Therefore, the calcium and magnesium carbonates are located within the soil profile. The micro-relief of the terrain causes spatial differentiation in the soil cover, which is a distinctive feature of the Kastanozem zone. Therefore, the complexity of the soil cover structure increases from the northwest to the southeast of the Volgograd region.

The Haplic Kastanozem Pachic subtype is the transitional form from the Calcic Chernozem to the Kastanozem. The Haplic Kastanozem Pachic subtype spreads in the Zhirnovsky, Kotovsky, Frolovsky, Olkhovsky, Serafimovichi, and Kletsky administrative districts of the Volgograd region (Figure S4a–g).

The territory of the Haplic Kastanozem Pachic spread has a lower precipitation than that of the Calcic Chernozem. Therefore, the thickness of the AB horizons is 28–42 cm, and the calcium carbonates are located close to the soil surface. The granulometric composition of the Haplic Kastanozem Pachic is loam or heavy loam, coarse-dust, and silt. The soil density is approximately 1.3 g cm⁻³. The SOM content is 2.5–3.5%. Consequently, the SOM stock is approximately 90–150 t ha⁻¹. Humic acid prevails in the SOM composition. At the same time, fulvic acid is a valuable part of the SOM composition. The reaction of the arable layer is close to neutral or slightly alkaline, and the pH value is 7.2–7.5. The pH value reaches 8.0 in the areas of carbonate Haplic Kastanozem Pachic. The soil cation exchange capacity is 28–32 mmol 100 g⁻¹ SDW, and the Ca ion dominates up to 70–75%. The natural fertility of the Haplic Kastanozem Pachic is rather high. The soil is used as arable land.

The Gypsic Kastanozem spreads in the Kamyshinsky, Dubovsky, Surovikinsky, Chernyshkovsky, Staropoltavsky, Nikolaevsky, and Bykovsky districts (Figure S5a–h).

The Gypsic Kastanozem is inferior to the Haplic Kastanozem Pachic. The SOM content is 2.0–2.8%, and the SOM stock is circa 65–100 t ha⁻¹. The calcium carbonates are at a depth of 32–40 cm. In arable land, the upper soil layer is slightly alkaline, and the pH value is approximately 7.5–7.8. The soil cation exchange capacity is 25–28 mmol 100 g⁻¹ SDW. In the large area of the Gypsic Kastanozem, the content of the exchangeable Na ion is more than 5% of the cation exchange capacity. Therefore, the soil exerts solonetzic properties.

In the Ilovlinsky, Gorodishchensky, Kalachevsky, Oktyabrsky, Kotelnikovsky, and Pallasovsky districts, the Gypsic Kastanozem and Endosalic Calcisols subzones spread (Figure S6a–g).

The subzone of the Endosalic Calcisols is located in the southeastern part of the Volgograd region within the Leninsky, Sredneakhtubinsky, and Svetloyarsky districts (Figure S7a–d).

An important part of the soil cover in the Volgograd region is the Endosalic Calcisols. However, this soil is the least fertile in the region. The soil profile is 20–40 cm depth, and the soil is moderately solonized. The SOM content is low, approximately 1.8–2.0%, and the SOM stock is small, circa 45–70 t ha⁻¹. The content of carbonates is high in the soil profile. The soil is medium alkaline, and the pH is 7.5–8.0. The soil structure is dispersed.

Solonetz is widely spread throughout a spatially differentiated soil cover in the Volgograd region. In the Haplic Chernozem subzone, the area of the Solonetz is the smallest. On the contrary, the Solonetz predominates the Endosalic Calcisols subzone. In horizon B1 of the Solonetz, the exchangeable Na content is up to 20 or even 30% of the soil cation exchange capacity, and the pH is high, circa 8.0–8.2. In result, the SOM is soluble and mobile, and the soil fine-grained aggregate system is highly dispersed. The fulvic acid prevails in SOM composition. The easily soluble salts are concentrated down to the soil profile. The high soil density, insufficient watering, and improper gas exchange suppress the plant root system growth. The arable layer of the Solonetz is a mixture of A and B soil horizons. The soil complex components gain different amounts of water as a result of the topographical redistribution of precipitation in the form of local surface runoff. The water redistribution causes the surface and subsurface lateral mass-transfer between soils, which configure the unity and appearance of the Endosalic Calcisols and Solonetz complex [23].

The area of Solonetz complexes with the Chernozem and Kastanozem is 1613.0 thousand hectares or 14.3% of the Volgograd region land.

The diversity of the climate and parent rocks leads to the special water, air, thermal and SOM regime of the soil complex. The soil cover structure is extremely heterogeneous. The list of the soil varieties accounts for more than the 3000 items [30,33] (

Table 5. Structure of the soil cover of the Volgograd region.

Soil Types and Subtypes	Area, Thousands ha	Percentage of Total Area
Haplic Chernozem	569.3	5.0
Calcic Chernozem	1791.7	15.9
Stagnic Phaeozems	94.8	0.8
Haplic Kastanozem Pachic	1243.4	11.0
Gypsic Kastanozem	2271.6	20.1
Endosalic Calcisols	1028.1	9.1
Gleyic Kastanozem	443.1	3.9
Solodic Planosols	10.4	0.1
Mollic Solonetz	108.8	1.0
Salic Solonetz, Gleyic Solonetz	1504.2	13.3
Solonchaks	14.6	0.1
Reductic Gleysols Humic	29.3	0.3
Fluvisols	401.6	3.6
Other soils (ravine-girder)	736.3	6.5
Subaquatic	480.0	4.3

). On the contrary, in the neighboring Krasnodar Territory and Rostov region, the number of soil varieties is less, approximately 1500 and 750, correspondingly [53].

The current properties of the soil complexes are inappropriate for the agronomy and silviculture. This warrants an improvement in soil properties for better plants and tree growth.

4.2. Soil Quality

In the Volgograd region, the maximum bonitet score of Haplic Chernozem and Calcic Chernozem is 100.5; Haplic Kastanozem Pachic—92.0; Gypsic Kastanozem—77.9; and Endosalic Calcisols—75.7 points [54]. Figure 2 shows the quality of Chernozem and Kastanozem soil.

The zonal soil type ranking by the agricultural land quality revealed the following number of soil varieties in the Volgograd region: Haplic Chernozem—100; Calcic Chernozem—254; Haplic Kastanozem Pachic—326; Gypsic Kastanozem—363; and Endosalic Calcisols—125. Of the total soil number, the varieties of Haplic Chernozem account for only 8%, and Calcic Chernozem with only 1.2% of the total diversity of soils (Figure 2). Consequently, the share of varieties of the Haplic Chernozem with bonitet scores below 40 points reaches 15%, and the share of varieties of the Calcic Chernozem reaches 22%.

The number of taxonomic units of the Haplic Kastanozem Pachic with bonitet scores above 70 reaches 11.6%, Gypsic Kastanozem reaches 4.4%, and Endosalic Calcisols is only 0.8% (Figure 3). The bonitet scores of the Kastanozem type soil ranges from 20 to 40 points.

Most soils in the Volgograd region are in a state of degradation. According to Figure 2 and Figure 3, the Chernozem soil and Kastanozem soil are losing fertility. We propose assigning the status of “Soil Natural Monument” to the soils of the specially protected areas. Thus, in addition to the soil health preservation, the status of the protected area will also rise. According to Article 100 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation [34], the “especially valuable lands” are interpreted as “the lands which comprise natural objects… (typical or rare landscapes, plant and animal communities…)”. In Paragraph 3 of Article 79 of the Land Code, the terms are: “agricultural land, the cadastral value of which exceeds the average regional level” and “significantly exceeds the average level in the district.” The question of determining the difference in such criteria remains open until now. Nevertheless, the soil quality ranking and productivity should not contain inaccuracies, discrepancies, and omissions. Therefore, we propose to consider the soil bonitet score as a reliable basis of the land quality assessment. This is according to Clause 4 of the Rules for the State Cadastral Appraisal of Lands [54], which contains the following provision: “The State Cadastral Appraisal of Lands is based on the classification of lands by their intended purpose and type of functional use”. From 1997 to 2003, the land bonitet scores of the Volgograd region decreased 8–11 points on average. Thus, the soil improvement is on the agenda in every land assessment area of the Volgograd region.

5. Discussion

The peculiarity of this section is the predominant quotation of our publications. We presented the most significant research results from colleagues related to the current level of understanding in the ecosystem services but mainly explained our own results. The scientific and technical field of BGT* that we have developed is new, and there is no possibility to widely compare our results with the current literature on the BGT* theme because only a few sources currently exist.

5.1. Land-Use Restrictions

The regional features of the soil of dry terrain include: complex soil cover; heavy-loamy and clay granulometric composition; a thin soil layer and low humus stock; high content of exchangeable sodium in SAC and the presence of toxic salts at a shallow depth; compacted layers in the soil profile (plow sole, surface crust, saline, clay, and carbonate horizons); and solonetz type of the pedogenesis. This limits land use and restricts soil-ecosystem services. The limiting land-use biophysical parameters are the root layer depth, low plant-available water content, weak average annual precipitation, high average annual potential evapotranspiration, and the watershed vector layer [1]. Natural and anthropogenic factors contribute to the water erosion development. These factors are the high altitude of the watershed above the local erosion basis; steepness and length of the slopes; soil and parent rock lithology; and climatic conditions.

Strong water erosion widely spreads in the Volgograd region on the elevated right bedrock banks of the Volga, Don, Khopyor, Medveditsa, and Ilovlya rivers. The fine-grained fraction of the soil is washed away from the slopes to the small rivers, which causes shallowing and erosion degradation of the river’s upper reaches. As a consequence, the Volgograd region is vulnerable to desertification [55]. The beneficial influence of sainfoin and two- and three-component mixtures of the perennial grasses improved the quality of the Endosalic Calcisols [32,56,57]. Additionally, the artificial steppe afforestation improved the microclimate of the land [58,59].

The standard implementation of irrigation causes secondary soil salinization and the rising ground water level in the Volgograd region. Generally, the incorrect management of the hydrological regime of the spatially heterogeneous soil cover structure has a negative impact on the irrigated lands [60,61,62] and on the land’s under rain-fed agriculture [63]. Unfortunately, despite some positive results from the standard land improvements, the current level of the dry steppe and semi-desert environment services is low [23].

5.2. Current State of Soil-Ecosystem Services

In light of recent research and developments, the soil quality score loss is a result of the land degradation. Therefore, a striving currently exists for the partial modernization of agricultural technologies. Unfortunately, this is not sufficient for establishing productive bidirectional linkages between the society and the land-use technology.

No-till technology is an option to reduce production costs and bring the agroecosphere state closer to a natural ecosystem. Notwithstanding the claimed dignity of the no-till technology, its developers do not recommend this technology for the soil of heavy granulometric composition, which is prone to merging (https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/no-tillage-farming.php (accessed on 29 December 2021)). Since the Chernozem and the Kastanozem of the Volgograd region, as well as many other soils of the dry terrain in the world, are exactly these types of soil, therefore, the announced benefits of the no-till technology are illusive in reality.

The combination of no-till and chiseling to a depth of approximately 30 cm is the strip-till technology. Chiseling provides the local comfort zones for the rhizosphere along the ripper tine trail. Nevertheless, the large blocks of the soil structure remain unfavorable for the plant root system development after such soil processing [23].

Biological farming was introduced 40 years ago as a rejection of the industrial farming. However, the idea should be borne in mind that it is impossible to go directly to biological farming because the soil was degraded before in long-term industrial farming. Therefore, measures are needed that will procure the soil starting conditions for sustainable and efficient biological farming [6]. The experiments showed that the standard technologies and technical means are not able to solve the problems of biological farming [64,65].

Due to the negative experience from the standard irrigation impact on the soil and landscape, micro-sprinkler irrigation and many other similar partial modernization options are now promoted for irrigation. However, this approach is untenable as it is unable to eliminate the hydrological defect of the standard nature-imitative irrigation. The essence of this defect is a reproducing of the natural hydrological regime of the soil and landscape, namely, combining the phase of water supply and the phase of its penetration into the soil. The same assessment is applicable to the drip irrigation. Nevertheless, in the 21st century, the fundamentally new solutions are important for the rhizosphere humidification. Conversely, in the successive acts of the soil superdispersity during the periodic waterlogging while artificial watering, the irrigated soil degrades, and the landscape as well. Furthermore, the loss of the fresh water at standard irrigation is 4–20 times compared to the water requirement of the plants. This wasteful use of water is unacceptable now, when fresh water is the most demanded world resource. In 2019, the motto of the Autumn Assembly of American Chemical Society in San Diego was “Water Scarcity Overcoming” [66].

On the contrary to the known irrigation decisions, there is a possibility not only to preserve the soil and water but to increase the soil quality score and improve the environmental services based on the BGT* methodology [23].

5.3. Biogeosystem Technique (BGT*) Improves Bidirectional Linkages between Society and Landscape

The land economic valuation in the focus of the sustainable soil management and policy can inform the agricultural, environmental, and other policies relevant to the soils [67]. These are the clear challenges involved in the economic valuation of soil-based ecosystem services [68,69].

The agricultural soils are to be focused on food security, water quality, and climate sustainability. The current common outdated farming practice fails to provide reliable ecosystem services for human welfare. On the contrary, it leads to the degradation of ecosystem services.

Over recent decades, the intensification of agriculture production causes negative results in the ecosystem services generated by soils. The low pedosphere resilience undermines agricultural productivity and accelerates climate change [13].

The low technological level of land use strengthens the social tension and influences adversely the essence of the bidirectional social–ecological linkages. The ecosystem services are an urgent issue to be discussed at different levels, from farmers to policy-makers. This will help the decision-makers to overcome the environmental and agricultural threat of the current technological impasse. An important focus of the ecosystem services is environmentally safe waste recycling, converting waste into environmentally safe nutrients for plants [70].

An important driver of land degradation is the farmer’s production decisions. Relatively short-term analyses of the food and raw material production are incapable of assessing properly the negative impact of outdated soil management practices on the ecosystem services and soil system adaptive potential [71]. On the contrary, the soil natural capital, associated long-term regulations, and supporting ecosystem services underpin crop yields [72].

The market current outcomes fail to generate the high-level soil ecosystem services corresponding with the long-term perspective of society. This market drawback is to be prevented via innovative governance institutions for the sake of the future generations welfare.

The change in soil health and quality under widely spread outdated agricultural management practices has not attracted urgent attention.

Combining production function is needed to find and quantify the impact of alternative management practices on agricultural productivity and soil ecosystem services. A new approach is needed to reveal and evaluate the long-term effects of soil management practices on the sustainability of agricultural production on a societal welfare basis.. Individual farmers who actually manage soils, regional administrators, and national policymakers are to act in the interests of society in concert [73].

The conflict between the biosphere and technology leads to poor soil health, scarce plant development, excessive water loss, phytopathogen spread, off-target transport, and environment overload of pesticides. The goals of sustainable agriculture, public health, and high level soil-environmental services will not come true in the current outdated technological framework.

New scientific results support the opinion that the standard soil management fails to improve the soil structure and multilevel architecture [23,74,75,76,77]. The existing methods of irrigation are incapable of maintaining a sustainable water regime for the environment. On the contrary, the standard irrigation spends approximately 4–20 times more water than plants and/or trees need [11]. Additionally, the water excess damages the geomorphological system of the landscape [78].

The search for the new biosphere technological platform, including environmentally safe waste recycling, is a global environmental challenge [79,80].

We have developed the heuristic transcendental Biogeosystem Technique (BGT*) methodology. Here, we mean the “transcendental” as a distinction from the standard technological approach, i.e., not just direct imitation of the nature phenomena. BGT* simultaneously ensures the long-term soil-environmental services, safe biosphere abundance, higher soil productivity, and expanded sustainable technological development [81,82,83].

BGT* implementations are as follows.

5.3.1. Intra-Soil Milling

The series of intra-soil milling machines was designed, created in physical form, and tested in the field for the large-scale field long-term production experiment layout. One-time intra-soil milling of the 20–50 cm layer provides stable soil structure and a fine multilevel aggregate system for the period for up to 40 years [23,84,85] (Figure 4).

The intra-soil milling controls the soil disaggregation–aggregation sequence in the 20–50 cm layer. After intra-soil milling of the soil illuvial horizon, a portion of the artificial fine macro-aggregate particles with a dimension less than 3 mm was as high as 40% compared to 17% in this horizon after standard moldboard plowing. The composition of the soil macroaggregates becomes fine grained [23], providing priority development of the rhizosphere, soil biome, and plant organogenesis. The volume of the soil porous media to intake water was greater after intra-soil milling, and water penetrated the soil freely. Consequently, the period when the water disaggregation impacts the soil becomes shorter.

The rhizosphere interface for contact with the moist multilevel stable fine aggregate soil geophysical structure became better developed. In a long-term field experiment, the SOM content increased from 2.0% to 3.3% in the 0–20 cm soil layer, and from 1.3% to 2.1% in the 20–40 cm layer as a result of intra-soil milling.

Plant resistance to stress increases, and the need for pesticide reduces. Soil fertility and crop yield become higher and more stable. The new multilevel hierarchy of the fine-grained microaggregate and macroaggregate system improves the soil water regime and ensures soil-environmental services [86,87,88].

The long-term ameliorative result of intra-soil milling lasts many times longer than that, circa 2–3 years after chiseling to a depth of 35 cm and circa 6–8 years after three-tie plowing to a depth of 40–45 cm. The annual yield increment of intra-soil milling with the machine PMS-70 (one from the series) was up to 53% for a period of 30–40 years compared to the standard agronomy technology. The economic assessment showed the profitability of the technology was 45.6% in the life cycle. This figure is twice as high as that of the standard technology, proving the applicability and economically valuable result of the intra-soil milling technology [23].

5.3.2. New Design of Intra-Soil Milling Machine

The design of the former version of the intra-soil milling machine comprises a chisel for preliminary soil loosening and a passive ripper in which a closed reducer drive of the intra-soil milling machine was installed (see Figure 4). These parts of the machine caused a high traction resistance, which was a drawback of the previous design [55]. Concerning this fact, we applied a heuristic nonstandard approach to synthesize the mechanical drive system of a new intra-soil processing machine (Figure 5) [84,85]. The aim was to maintain the benefits of intra-soil milling from the past design and, at the same time, reduce the traction resistance, increase the reliability of device, and reduce the intra-soil processing cost.

The heuristic essence of the new design is the utterly new drive unit system, 4–8. While the machine is in operation, the drive unit moves without traction resistance along the slit, which the ring cogwheel, 5, cuts through using external cutters, 8.

5.3.3. Intra-Soil Pulse Continuous-Discrete Watering

Irrigation water consumption is as much as 95% of the freshwater global resources [66], but in the framework of standard irrigation, most water evaporates, excessive transpiration is taking place, and the water preferential flux to ground water is huge, causing the world water scarcity and the excessive loss of carbon and nutrients from the biosphere. The current outdated irrigation paradigm is imitative, gravitational, frontal, and continuous-isotropic. The soil and the soil biological process as well degrade in standard irrigation conditions, which threatens a sustainable agriculture. This contradicts the declared goal of water saving [5].

Irrigation should not be focused on the water supply only. The plant needs a rather small amount of water involved in the synthesis of biomass. Meanwhile, the plant needs nutrients from a soil solution. The higher the concentration of the soil solution, the more nutrients are delivered to the plant at the same water consumption rate. The goal value of the matrix potential of the soil solution is to ensure the maximum flux of nutrients from the soil solution into the plant.

For solving the problem of world water scarcity, the intra-soil pulse continuous-discrete watering was developed [89] (Figure 6).

The new BGT* soil watering paradigm basis is the transcendental dividing of the phase of water supply to the soil from the phase of water spreading throughout the soil.

In the first stage t₀–t₅ of water supply, the water is injected into the soil by syringe. The humidification soil contour is formed at a depth circa 10–35 cm and is circa 1.5–2.5 cm diameter. After syringe extraction from the soil, during the second stage t₆, in a period circa 5–10 min after syringe extraction, the soil solution redistributes into the adjacent soil continuum precisely into the individual soil volume without transition throughout the soil continuum, providing better conditions for the soil biota and rhizosphere. The transitional water fluxes throughout the soil continuum are excluded. The volume of injected water is much lower compared to standard irrigation.

A short period of soil humidification via intra-soil pulse continuous-discrete watering prevents the loss of the soil structure and architecture construct. A rather low soil water potential procures the soil structure memory phenomenon function, ensuring the quick subsequent re-aggregation of the hydrodynamically disturbed soil geophysical structure. The effective stable multilevel mineral–water interfaces of the soil architecture system are formed.

Water consumption is 5–20 times less compared to standard irrigation. The soil solution matrix potential ranges from −0.2 MPa to −0.4 MPa. At this matrix potential, the stomatal apparatus of the plant operates in a regulation mode. Therefore, the plant transpiration rate reduces. Nevertheless, the water and nutrient supply is sufficient for productive organogenesis of plant due to the stable soil structure and higher soil solution concentration. This provides higher rate CO₂ and N fertigation and decreases nutrient and pesticide off-target transport. The soil shows no signs of degradation compared to the adverse consequences of standard irrigation [62,90].

5.3.4. Intra-Soil Waste Recycling

The success of the soil reclamation and remediation depends on expansion of the soil biological process. Currently, the standard devices for soil mechanical processing and amendments application, including subsoil manuring, are based on passive working bodies. This low level technological approach provides insufficient soil loosening, soil mixing, and contact of applied material with the soil, not ensuring the multilevel soil structure and architecture, biogeochemical process, soil stability, and fertility.

The BGT* based intra-soil recycling system (Figure 7) provides the municipal, industrial, biological, including agricultural, slaughterhouse, hazardous waste and gasification byproduct supply to the soil (red arrow) during the course of intra-soil milling of the 20–50 cm soil layer [91,92].

Pulp or granules fed through channels into the soil milling zone and mixed with soil aggregates are formed during the milling process. The soil micro- and macro aggregate shell is strengthening, and aggregates become more stable. Amendments applied in the course of soil processing additionally divide the dispersed system soil structural elements and improve the soil mechanical structure and architecture. The vast soil continuum for biochemical reactions is synthesized, providing better SOM turnover and higher soil productivity. The prerequisites are formed for HMs intra-soil passivation, linked to the better control of equilibriums in the soil solution in the framework of the BGT* methodology. The last phenomenon is well detailed [80,93]. The device procures a new chemical soil engineering technology and a full scale soil-biological process.

The technology overcomes disadvantages of the known non-dispersed application of organic and mineral matter to the soil, which is incapable in the proper soil continuum organization.

The intra-soil waste recycling ensures medical and veterinary environmental safety, intensifies the nutrient turnover, and increases the productivity of plants.

5.3.5. Intra-Soil Slaughter-House Waste Recycling

Slaughterhouse waste is dangerous in view of an uncontrolled spread of infections [94]. A slaughterhouse waste pulp intra-soil dispersed recycling system was developed [95] (Figure 8).

The system excludes the spread of hazardous biological products and pathogens through the natural trophic chains because by being placed intra-soil, the biological product becomes inaccessible to predators and other organisms. The system provides a slaughterhouse waste disinfection along the drive track in the upper soil layer. The intra-soil dispersed recycling accelerates the decomposition of biological matter into the soil by native saprophyte. This improves soil fertility and enhances the photosynthesis rate, providing biological oxygen production and biological ionization of the atmosphere. The higher rate of methane oxidation and the increased biological consumption of carbon dioxide by plants reduce the greenhouse effect.

The BGT* methodology enhances the veterinary and medical sanitary quality of the environment, soil biological regime, land recreational potential, and productivity of the biosphere. The intra-soil recycling of slaughterhouse waste is an important option for microbiofilms and humic substances management in the soil. All these possibilities are useful in soil environmental service improvement.

5.3.6. BGT* Methodology Implications

The BGT* ensures higher rate N fixation from the atmosphere, photosynthesis, and O₂ production. This will mitigate drought severity and enhance plant responses to increasing CO₂ content in the atmosphere [23,96]. Increased soil organic matter synthesis provides high-rate soil-biological reversible C sequestration and offsets atmospheric emissions of CO₂ [8,12,13]. This promotes climate-smart land management both providing terrestrial sequestration of atmospheric CO₂ and contributing to improving soil health and benefits [15]. The BGT* methodology can allow for new approaches to economic valuation of the carbon sequestration in the soils for climate regulation [97].

The BGT* mitigates soil degradation and provides the resistivity of agrophytocenosis to phytopathogens.

A series of chemical soil engineering devices for intra-soil mechanical processing [84,85], intra-soil pulse continuous-discrete watering [89], and intra-soil amendment and application of biological products and nanoparticles [92,95,98,99] was developed.

According to Schumpeter’s (1942) “creative destruction”, the BGT* is a technological change based on previous failures and learning [100], focused on the synthesis of improved soil to ensure higher level environment services in the steppe and semi-desert terrain [12,101]. We propose the BGT* as a basis for international long-term political and business initiatives for preventing land degradation and loss [80,81,84], overcoming the short-termism and managerial shirking [18], and optimizing the social and soil environmental processes [1].

The BGT* implication has potential to procure a qualified heuristic selection of the long-term institutional innovations [102,103].

5.3.7. BGT* Methodology Limitations

Unfortunately, a limitation of our results is the difficulty in providing understanding of the broad perspective of BGT* methodology because of the current lack of pedosphere management heuristic strategic comprehension to pursue long-term ecosystem services value creation among shake-holders and managers of various levels [18]. The origin of this limitation follows the short-termism and managerial shirking in the standard practice of corporate governance. This shortsighted approach leads to the current business mistake of underinvestment in innovations [18]. The important BGT* limitation is bad understanding of industrial development in civilization of the intensively degrading ecosphere. The transcendental heuristic approach that we developed is to be applied for breaking through the current technological impasse.

6. Conclusions

The current state of South Russia in the Volgograd region land fund indicates that the outdated nature-imitating technologies of agriculture, irrigation, and waste recycling restrict the soil-environmental services and are incapable of providing the bidirectional linkages between society and landscape.

For breaking through fundamental shortcomings in the current industrial technological platform, we developed the BGT* transcendental heuristic methodology for the higher level agricultural, irrigational and environmental management, soil-biological and technical basis for long-term soil improvement, water saving, efficient environmentally safe waste recycling, land technology development, and multi-dimensional fruitful bidirectional linkages between society and landscape to mitigate soil degradation and provide effective long-term soil-environmental services.