Laboratory equipment under the project "Save nature to save the future", CB005.2.12.112, contract № RD-02-29-252 / 04.10.19, co-financed by the European Union under the INTERREG Program - IPA for cross-border cooperation Bulgaria - Turkey 2014 - 2020 with partners Agricultural Chamber - Meric and CEIBG-Haskovo, examines free of charge the soils of farmers in the area. The project is aimed at soil protection in the cross-border regions of Bulgaria and Turkey. According to it, on the Bulgarian side, a laboratory with equipment for soil analysis has been established, which provides accurate and timely results for 15 soil factors, including the presence of macronutrients and critical micronutrients. Thanks to this, the nutrient needs of the soils in Haskovo district are determined, which helps to properly fertilize and achieve optimal yields.

The equipped laboratory performs a comprehensive agrochemical analysis of soils, which includes: determination of soil acidity; specific electrical conductivity; mineral nitrogen; assimilate potassium; phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, organic matter / humus / and trace elements. Farmers in the region will be able to use the laboratory to determine the needs of the soils in their lands.

As the soil is an irreplaceable, organic and practically non-renewable natural resource that requires sustainable exploitation, the equipment purchased under the project was selected for this purpose. It includes an ion-selective system with a combined probe for measuring soil extracts for 7 indicators: ammonium, calcium, chlorine, nitrate, potassium, sodium and magnesium ions. For the needs of farmers, MetrohmpH / Ion meter, model 781, was purchased, which has the ability to determine 19 ions, such as K + 1, Na + 1, NH4 + 1, NO2-1, NO3-1, Pb + 2 and etc.

The most common forms of soil damage are chemical pollution with heavy metals, various forms of degradation processes such as erosion, acidification and salinization. Therefore, the equipment also has a spectrophotometer for determining the nutrients in the soil - nitrogen, nitrates, nitrites, total nitrogen, total organic carbon, COD, phosphates and total phosphorus, BOD5. The device also allows determining the presence of heavy metals in the soil such as mercury, nickel, cadmium, zinc, copper and arsenic. It has capabilities for all types of methods for automatic correction of turbidity, recalculation of the result with the introduced dilution factor, measurement against own blank, check for the presence of matrix effects.

The laboratory will perform free soil analyzes of agricultural producers in the Haskovo region, in order to monitor the condition of the soil and protect soil resources. The research on the project is carried out by submitting an order for the analysis of the soil by the farmer, in which the specific indicators are indicated. After the survey, he received an official protocol from the soil test.