Ukrainian Soil
Ukraine, the second largest country in Europe, is known as the region’s breadbasket thanks to its black “chernozem” soil, which is highly fertile and rich in organic matter called humus. Covering more than half the landmass of Ukraine, chernozem soil offers exceptional agronomic conditions for the production of a large range of crops, especially cereals and oilseeds.
2025 - Soil Carbon Credit Ukraine
🌱 Soil Organic Carbon in Ukraine: A Landmark Study by Carbon Credit Ukraine (CCU)
Carbon Credit Ukraine (CCU) has completed the first large-scale study of soil organic carbon (SOC) across Ukraine — collecting over 1,000 soil samples from 18 agricultural regions and covering nearly 150,000 fields.
On east and south soil samples were taken very close to the front line as 16 field teams travelled throughout all regions of the largest by size country in Europe.
Laboratory analysis was conducted by Prime Lab Tech LLC, following international standards in partnership with regional representatives of Agricultural Solutions Company.
🌍 Why does this matter? Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) is:
- The foundation of soil fertility
- Key to water retention and plant nutrition
- Protection against erosion and degradation
- A gateway for farmers to access the carbon credit market
📊 Regional Highlights:
- Odesa — 1.71–3.20% SOC (topsoil): strong agro potential
- Kyiv — 1.47–2.62%: requires organic enrichment
- Cherkasy — up to 1.89%: highly fertile
- Zhytomyr — below 1%: signs of degradation
- Poltava — up to 2.80%: favorable conditions
- Donetsk — 2.79–2.93%: high potential
- Lviv — up to 3.75%: significant variability
Recommendations for Farmers:
- Maintain SOC levels above 1.5–2%
- Use organic fertilizers and green manure
- Minimize mechanical soil disturbance
- Apply anti-erosion practices
Read the report in Ukrainian Вміст органічного вуглецю в ґрунтах України: масштабне дослідження та агрономічне значення – CCU
Starting from September 2025 the regenerative farming academy will be started where Ukrainian farmers will get necessary training and assistance for technology change from conventional to regenerative farming methods Olena Kononenko Violeta Gevorkjan
Source: Vitaliy Skotsyk’s Post
Interactive Map of Soils of Ukraine
Interactive map of Soils of Ukraine — SuperAgronom.com
The online map of Ukraine will show in which regions certain types of soil are located. In a few clicks, you will open information about more than 650 types of soils throughout Ukraine, and you can also examine the soils of your own or neighboring region in detail.
The map provides information of the following layers
1) In the agrochemical map of soils, you can familiarize yourself with the composition of the soils of Ukraine, evaluate the fertility and content of the main microelements. Detailed information about the agrochemical state of the soil will help to plan the implementation of any agrotechnical measures as precisely and carefully as possible. The map provides an assessment of the level of soil availability with nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) on a five-point scale
2) The soil erosion map will show in detail the situation in Ukraine regarding the spread of erosion. This topic is very relevant today. In Ukraine, almost 16 million hectares of land have been eroded, and erosion continues to spread to every fifth hectare of those that have not yet experienced it. Losses of humus on these lands have already reached 30-70%. In the map, the types of eroded territories are established in relation to the total area of eroded soils of a group of farms with the same degree of erosion to the entire area of farms of this group.
3) The soil fertility map will allow you to quickly determine how fertile the soils are in the region, their agronomic properties and suitability for growing certain agricultural crops. Soil fertility is one of the most important factors for obtaining maximum yield. The map will help you find both the most fertile land and the soil with the lowest humus content.
4) The soil filtration map will allow you to quickly identify reclamation zones and subzones, determine filtration coefficients depending on the type of soil and climate zone in a separate region. With the help of this map, an agronomist can orientate himself with hydration and water filtration in his region.
2023 - The impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine on the state of country’s soil: Analysis results (PDF)
2014 - Ukraine: Soil fertility to strengthen climate resilience Preliminary assessment of the potential benefits of conservation agriculture (prepared under the FAO/World Bank Cooperative Programme) Download link
