The Government Decision approves the Technical Regulation Soil protection measures within agricultural practices. Its stated objective is to establish preventive and remedial measures against soil degradation processes, whether natural or caused by agricultural works, which undermine the soil’s capacity to fulfil its environmental, economic, social and cultural functions. It defines key terms such as soil exhaustion, sewage sludge, treated sludge, optimization, optimal working period, minimum tillage systems, pollutants and soil amendments, and sets the scope of regulated activities, including the use of sewage sludge in agriculture. The Regulation lays down detailed agronomic, organizational, phytoameliorative and hydrotechnical measures to prevent and mitigate physical soil degradation (compaction, structural damage, erosion by water and wind, landslides, over moistening, salinization and saline formation, and pollution). It prescribes specific tillage systems, crop rotations, limits on the share of technical crops (including rapeseed), use of low pressure machinery, and deep loosening practices. It establishes anti erosion measures for arable land on slopes, including contour ploughing and sowing, strip cropping with defined crop combinations and strip widths, grass buffer strips, small dikes and terraces, and special arrangements for vineyards and orchards. It further regulates measures against wind erosion, landslides, excess moisture, secondary salinization and saltwater intrusion, soil exhaustion through optimized fertilization and crop rotations, and soil pollution prevention, including restrictions on storage and use of potentially polluting substances and the prioritization of biological plant protection methods. A dedicated section governs the use of sewage sludge in agriculture. It allows use only under specified hygienic conditions and subject to prior opinions of the State Sanitary Epidemiological Service, and sets limit values for heavy metals in soils, in sludge, and for annual metal inputs averaged over ten years. It requires sludge treatment before use, prohibits sludge application on pastures and forage crops shortly before grazing or harvest, on vegetable and fruit crops during vegetation (with limited exceptions), and on soils for vegetables and fruits within defined pre harvest periods, and bans sludge containing carcinogenic or mutagenic substances. Annexes specify analytical parameters, sampling and reference methods for soils and sludge, and maximum permissible surface pressure on soils by machinery. Users of agricultural land must periodically request complex soil evaluations, monitor toxic status at intervals based on risk, ensure compliance with metal input limits, verify sludge treatment and quality, and maintain registers of sludge quantities, characteristics, treatments, suppliers and application sites, providing information to competent authorities on request.
جمهوريّة مولدوفا · 2008-10-13