Sludge Treatment for Application in Agriculture Should be the Option Number One for Ukraine

Abstract

Ukraine is well-known in the world as a country with soil rich for humus. Approximately 68% of arable soils in Ukraine have been classificated as chernozem. For last decades decrease of organic matter content in soils of various agri-climatic zones has been surveyed in the country. The main reason of the mentioned process is enormous lack of organic fertilizer (manure) in agriculture connected with decrease in livestock (in 3 times since year 1992). Besides there is expansion of technical crops for biofuel production (like Brassica napus, Helianthus annuus), which are the provocateurs of soils exhaustion. At the same time such important source of organic matter for application in agriculture as sewage sludge (SS) from wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is not used in Ukraine nowadays. To stop arable soils degradation in regions it is necessary to develop up-to-date management for fertilizer production on WWTPs. The base for the process has to be the acceptance of the goal-oriented National programme, corresponding governmental decrees and implementation of national standard for using sewage sludge as fertilizer.