SOIL

The principal soil type is dry-steppe chestnut soil that covers some 40% of Mongolia. Other major soil types are brown desert-steppe and grey brown desert soils. Arable soils are generally dark chestnut and chestnut soils, which are typically light, finesilty, around 20?30 cm deep with an organic matter content of 3?4% and pH of 6-7.Due to above mentioned climatic factors the natural ecosystems, including soil, are relatively fragile, highly susceptible to degradation by human activities, and slow to recover. The rates of humus production and vegetative regeneration and growth are very low throughout the country and agricultural productivity is low in comparison to other countries of the same latitude.

     VEGETATION

     Six vegetation zones can be defined in Mongolia based on different altitude, rainfall distribution and soil type; alpine tundra (3.0% of total area), mountain taiga (4.1%), mountain steppe (25.1%), steppe (26.1%), desert steppe (27.2%) and desert (14.5%). Roughly 124.3 million ha or 79% of land area are covered by grassland and 15 million ha are covered by forest and shrub. Sandy areas are estimated at about 4.4 million Figure 1. Moistening deficit of crops vegetation period.