Limitative factors of agricultural lands from the administrative territory of Răducăneni, Iaşi county

Abstract

Land quality index is based not only on soil fertility, which is undoubtedly the most important factor, but also on climatic factors, landscape and hydrology. The administrative unit used in this study comes under the category of temperate climate, with a multi-annual temperature average of 9.4°C and a multi-annual rainfall average of 572.4 mm. The relief is typically hilly with altitudes ranging from 26 m in Jijia Plain and 414 m in Crasnita Hill. The hydrographical network is relatively dense, with the temporary stagnation of water in hollow areas and is part of the hydrographic basin of the middle River Pruth, the main rivers that drain the studied area being Jijia, Bohotin and Cozia. The analysis of the geomorphologic indicators concerning land gradient, landslides, deep erosion (gullies), as well as of the pedological indicators regarding organic matter content, soil reaction, soil texture, gleying/stagnogleying, salinization and alkalization, revealed that the soils in the area under survey are severely degraded. The productive capacity of the soil on the mapped area of 6624 ha is affected by surface erosion (58.04%), landslide (14.62%), gleying (32.20%), stagnogleying (0.59%), salinization and alkalization up to 23.75% of the surveyed area.