Land reclamation in Polissya (Sekun village)

Abstract

The author tells about drainage reclamation - one of the structural types of hydromelioration, which began in Polissya in the Volyn province in the late nineteenth century. Reclamation, which preceded the First World War, was in the nature of the sewerage of swamps and manifested itself in the construction of canals: in some cases for the rafting of forests, in others - for the development of meadow swamps. The structures on the canals used for rafting were destroyed and burned during the First World and Civil Wars, the shallow network of canals in the swamps became silted up and lost its drainage effect. Drainage reclamation within Maly Polissya caused the transformation of soils in opposite directions. Under conditions of high culture of drained agriculture, they were transformed into drained cultivated soils, and under conditions of low culture of drained agriculture with numerous violations of the recommended agro-ameliorative measures - into drained degraded soils. The village of Sekun and events from the time of the Russian tsar to the present are mentioned. It was emphasized that land reclamation gave impetus to the economic life of the region, contributed to the introduction of new cultures and technologies. It is indicated that cyclical ups and downs were observed three times in the reclamation of Polissya lands. The first two cycles are related to external factors - world wars, and the third - internal - with the transition to a market economy. Each cycle ended with the decline of drainage reclamation. Thus, analyzing the long history of studying the hydromorphic soils of Volyn, the most important results are highlighted. Given the ambiguous conclusions of land reclamation in Polissya, modern researchers study it is a very important task.