The conceptual provisions for the sustainable fertilizers management in Ukraine
Authors:   National Scientific Center “Institute for Soil Science and Agrochemistry Research named after O.N. Sokolovsky”, Kharkiv, Ukraine, Revtie-Uvarova A. V. 
Published: May 2023

The article presents the results of the analysis of the main national and international documents, which are evidence of how the global deterioration of the quality and state of soil resources catalyzed the process of awareness by the international community of the need to develop and implement mechanisms for preserving the productive and ecological functions of the soils of agrocenoses in order to achieve a neutral level of land degradation. One of the main blocks of sustainable management of soil resources is the sustainable management of fertilizers, the use of which significantly increases the productivity of agricultural crops, affects the quality of the soil, but may have certain environmental risks. The purpose of the research is to define conceptual approaches to sustainable fertilizer management that are harmonized with the requirements of the International Fertilizer Code and adapted to the conditions of Ukraine. The research was conducted using general scientific, structural-functional and abstract-logical methods. The analysis of the current national base of regulatory documents regarding the management of soil resources and fertilizers indicates its improvement, including through the ratification and implementation of international regulatory documents. Within the framework of the international integration of the country, a conceptual approach to the sustainable management of fertilizers in Ukraine is proposed, which is aimed at reorienting the vector of actions from "controlling the impact" to "preventing the impact", where the object of action is the soil, and the subject of action is fertilizers. Subjects of ensuring sustainable management of fertilizers - authorities, manufacturers of fertilizers, including from secondary raw materials, scientific institutions of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences and the State Institution "Soil Protection Institute of Ukraine", higher educational institutions of agronomic and environmental specialties, organizations and associations of various forms of ownership , whose activities concern fertilizers, agrochemical laboratories and farms of various forms of ownership. Sustainable fertilizers management, harmonized with international guidelines, is based on such principles as objectivity, representativeness, regulation, scientificity, systematicity, causality, environmental friendliness, benchmarking and informativeness. Based on the results of the analysis, a set of measures to ensure the sustainable management of fertilizers in Ukraine is proposed, which consists of interconnected and complementary blocks – regulatory, organizational, informational and technological (fertilizer production and application), which have a number of relevant tasks aimed at ensuring a balanced and standardized application of fertilizers in the country's agriculture, preservation of productive and ecological functions of soils, prevention of the development of degradation processes in order to achieve their neutral level, guarantee of food stability and ecological security of the country.