Information on productivity of agricultural land is limited, since agrochemical mapping has not been carried out since 1991. Unbalanced and high rates of fertiliser and pesticide applications were used, and wastewater from large livestock farms was discharged directly into rivers. The number of bovines has decreased by 2.8 times, the number of swine by 3 times, and the number of fowl by 2.7 times. These decreasing trends are continued in 1996. The flows of nitrogen and phosphorus were evaluated as moderate, in comparison to similar soils in Nordic countries.
Most soils have background heavy metals concentrations.
The concentrations of heavy metals in the soils of flooded areas, old apple tree gardens of former large farms and near highways are higher than the background levels, but they do not exceed allowed limits. In some small gardens in Riga, significantly increased concentrations of lead are observed. Last updated in November 1, 1998. WWW pages are designed and technical support by Latvian Environment Data Centre .