Armenia to require soil tests every 3 years for farmers in nitrate-sensitive zones: draft

Land users in Armenia’s nitrate-sensitive zones will have to test their soil every 3 years at their own expense and keep a log of agrochemical use. The draft order of the Minister of Economy, open for public comment until October 30, will take effect 6 months after official publication.

The test must be done before field work begins, in a laboratory listed in the register of the national accreditation body. It must show the soil’s content of available nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). The draft and its accompanying documents do not say how much the test costs. The log records the plot’s area and cadastral number, the fertiliser applied, its dose and nitrogen content, and the amount of nitrogen added to the soil in kg per hectare.

The draft bans nitrate-containing agrochemicals on land that is snow-covered, frozen, flooded or waterlogged, and where there is a risk of flooding or of runoff into a river, lake or other water body. On slopes, fertilisers may be applied only with cross-slope tillage or dense plant cover. Land users must practise crop rotation or simple crop alternation and irrigate according to soil moisture and crop water needs.

In active pollution zones of water bodies, barns and farms may operate only if they have closed, leak-proof pits for manure, slurry and poultry litter.

Three programmes are planned for 2027–2030: awareness-raising and advice for farms, agrochemical accounting, and efficient irrigation management. They will be carried out by specialists of the regional governors’ offices, the Ministry of Economy, NGOs and the Armenian National Agrarian University. According to the justification, the programmes require no funding and state budget spending will not increase. A working group to coordinate them will be set up within 1 month of the order’s publication.

The draft follows the roadmap for implementing the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement and aligns with Articles 4 and 5 of EU Council Directive 91/676/EEC of 1991, the Nitrates Directive. The authors studied the experience of Moldova and France. Nitrate-vulnerable areas are defined in river basin management plans, and the Hydrometeorology and Monitoring Center tracks nitrate levels at 151 surface water and 55 groundwater monitoring points.