Lukashenko reviews soil fertility improvement experiment
12.10.2026
MINSK DISTRICT (
BelTA) – Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko reviewed an experiment to improve the fertility of sandy soils and difficult land, including through the use of organic fertilizers with added peat and potash salt waste during a working visit to Minsk District on 12 October, BelTA has learned.
The experiment was conducted on a 20-hectare trial plot in Minsk District. It was divided into six parts, and before sowing corn, the soil was treated in various ways - both without fertilizer and with it. Several types of fertilizer were used, including both organic and mineral fertilizers traditional for domestic agriculture, as well as trial batches with peat and clay-salt sludge. The latter were developed by the National Academy of Sciences together with the Agrokombinat Dzerzhinsky, the Beltopgaz state production association and Belaruskali.
Clay-salt sludge is waste from potash fertilizer extraction. Importantly, it retains a certain percentage of useful substances. After it was applied, a hybrid universal-purpose corn variety, Ricardinio, was sown in the field, and observations were recorded of the crop growth and development and the formation of cobs.
“Where we applied this potash production waste with organic matter and even with peat, the result is better than where we did not apply it. So this waste delivers results,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stated.
According to preliminary results, the most positive dynamics in green mass accumulation were demonstrated by plants on plots where conventional compost and composts with sludge were applied. As the plants grew and developed, their height on all experimental plots was comparable, but significantly exceeded the control sample without fertilizer. The experiments also confirmed a positive effect in terms of the average number of cobs per plant.
The president stressed that, alongside improving soil fertility, one of the main goals of the experiment is to find a use for the accumulated mountains of potash production waste.
Final conclusions about the effectiveness of the developed composts can be drawn after the corn is harvested for grain and the resulting yield is calculated. In the opinion of specialists, it would be advisable to repeat the experiment next year and continue research, including on grain crops.
The result is already positive, and that is obvious, but the president wants to see the dynamics and understand just how positive it will be over several seasons. “The question is to compare how much better it is and so on,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted.
“I need an answer to the question of what we will do with this waste around Soligorsk. We must carry out an experiment to give a clear answer to the question of what to do with this sludge,” the president said. The head of state does not rule out that potash production waste will in future be used to improve soil fertility, primarily in the southern regions, where there is a lot of sand.
The president was also briefed on certain plans for the development of the Agrokombinat Dzerzhinsky, the construction of various agricultural facilities in the regions, and the completion of winter crop sowing. Aleksandr Lukashenko showed particular interest in the state of affairs at Orsha Meat Canning Plant, which is now also under the management of the agro-industrial complex. The plant’s capacity is fully utilized, a new workshop has been launched, and active efforts are underway to promote its products on foreign markets. Emphasis is being placed, among other things, on baby food.
“Just keep an eye on quality. Never compromise on quality. Quality will always win out in the end. People want quality goods, especially food products,” the president warned Vladimir Lukyanov, General Director of the agro-industrial complex.
Another prospect for the plant in Orsha is the production of animal feed. Design work is currently underway. This area is important above all from the point of view of import substitution.
As BelTA reported earlier, the experiment on improving the fertility of sandy soils and difficult land was conducted on the instructions of the head of state. This spring, the president suggested trying to mix organic fertilizers with peat and potash salt waste in order to improve the fertility of land unfavorable for agriculture.
“I even thought: what if we take a layer of potash salt waste, put down a layer of organic matter, a layer of peat, and mix it all together. What would we get? It probably would not be worse. After all, some potash fertilizer remains there. Plough it in, and then add peat and organic fertilizers,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said on 10 March 2026, hearing a report on the current activities of the National Bank in the context of the country’s economic development tasks. “That there will be an improvement for the soil is certain. But how economically justified it is needs to be tested. I am ready to keep an eye on it. We need to find some ‘poor’ field and try it on some plot. And maybe we will solve the problem with the spoil heaps around Soligorsk.”
The experiment was conducted on a 20-hectare trial plot in Minsk District. It was divided into six parts, and before sowing corn, the soil was treated in various ways - both without fertilizer and with it. Several types of fertilizer were used, including both organic and mineral fertilizers traditional for domestic agriculture, as well as trial batches with peat and clay-salt sludge. The latter were developed by the National Academy of Sciences together with the Agrokombinat Dzerzhinsky, the Beltopgaz state production association and Belaruskali.
Clay-salt sludge is waste from potash fertilizer extraction. Importantly, it retains a certain percentage of useful substances. After it was applied, a hybrid universal-purpose corn variety, Ricardinio, was sown in the field, and observations were recorded of the crop growth and development and the formation of cobs.
“Where we applied this potash production waste with organic matter and even with peat, the result is better than where we did not apply it. So this waste delivers results,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stated.
According to preliminary results, the most positive dynamics in green mass accumulation were demonstrated by plants on plots where conventional compost and composts with sludge were applied. As the plants grew and developed, their height on all experimental plots was comparable, but significantly exceeded the control sample without fertilizer. The experiments also confirmed a positive effect in terms of the average number of cobs per plant.
The president stressed that, alongside improving soil fertility, one of the main goals of the experiment is to find a use for the accumulated mountains of potash production waste.
Final conclusions about the effectiveness of the developed composts can be drawn after the corn is harvested for grain and the resulting yield is calculated. In the opinion of specialists, it would be advisable to repeat the experiment next year and continue research, including on grain crops.
The result is already positive, and that is obvious, but the president wants to see the dynamics and understand just how positive it will be over several seasons. “The question is to compare how much better it is and so on,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted.
“I need an answer to the question of what we will do with this waste around Soligorsk. We must carry out an experiment to give a clear answer to the question of what to do with this sludge,” the president said. The head of state does not rule out that potash production waste will in future be used to improve soil fertility, primarily in the southern regions, where there is a lot of sand.
The president was also briefed on certain plans for the development of the Agrokombinat Dzerzhinsky, the construction of various agricultural facilities in the regions, and the completion of winter crop sowing. Aleksandr Lukashenko showed particular interest in the state of affairs at Orsha Meat Canning Plant, which is now also under the management of the agro-industrial complex. The plant’s capacity is fully utilized, a new workshop has been launched, and active efforts are underway to promote its products on foreign markets. Emphasis is being placed, among other things, on baby food.
“Just keep an eye on quality. Never compromise on quality. Quality will always win out in the end. People want quality goods, especially food products,” the president warned Vladimir Lukyanov, General Director of the agro-industrial complex.
Another prospect for the plant in Orsha is the production of animal feed. Design work is currently underway. This area is important above all from the point of view of import substitution.
As BelTA reported earlier, the experiment on improving the fertility of sandy soils and difficult land was conducted on the instructions of the head of state. This spring, the president suggested trying to mix organic fertilizers with peat and potash salt waste in order to improve the fertility of land unfavorable for agriculture.
“I even thought: what if we take a layer of potash salt waste, put down a layer of organic matter, a layer of peat, and mix it all together. What would we get? It probably would not be worse. After all, some potash fertilizer remains there. Plough it in, and then add peat and organic fertilizers,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said on 10 March 2026, hearing a report on the current activities of the National Bank in the context of the country’s economic development tasks. “That there will be an improvement for the soil is certain. But how economically justified it is needs to be tested. I am ready to keep an eye on it. We need to find some ‘poor’ field and try it on some plot. And maybe we will solve the problem with the spoil heaps around Soligorsk.”