UGT is part of the international project “Innovations for sustainable use of agricultural resources and climate adaption in the arid steppes of Kazakhstan and Southwestern Siberia (ReKKS).

The project aims at the development and implementation of innovative solutions for an economically and ecologically sustainable land management. It consists of research in the field of a possible is adaption to climate change in one of the most important agricultural areas worldwide. The main goal of the project is the development of innovative sustainable climate-adapted agronomic concepts.
The work will be performed at two spatial scales. At the level of the whole steppe, the climatic-dependent impact of different land use and soil use and soil management on soil erosion, soil organic matter and nutrient availability will be identified along climatic gradients. At research fields of research institutions and on-farm novel agronomic approaches will be identified along climatic gradients. At research fields of research institutions and on-farm novel agronomic approaches will be developed and optimized. This will be accompanied by research on soil erosion, soil water budget and nitrogen use efficiency and step restauration.

First soil testing with the auger
The task of the UGT- company are focused to two topics – the development and fabrication of a weighable lysimeter station that operates during the whole year and the construction of a mobile wind tunnel. The measuring results are decisive and will be used in the project by all scientific partners to fulfill their tasks. Dr. Manfred Seyfarth was part of a work team that consisted of scientists from Leibniz University Hannover, University of Halle, UFZ Halle. The colleagues visited last week Kazakhstan in order to do the preparative work for the lysimeter station.
With the scientific investigation using LYSIMETERS and soil hydrological measuring stations as well as comprehensive climate measurement technology there will be provided new insights into the establishment of sustainable and climate-adapted farming concepts for dry steppe areas. The target is also to develop and give recommendations for a sustainable soil management.