The article presents the results of the seven-year study on the state of arable lands and wastewaters in the districts of mining enterprises in Armenia. An assessment of the ecological and toxicological state of wastewaters and contaminated areas was carried out. Methods for their purification are proposed aimed at their further use and obtainment of environmentally safe agricultural products. An area of about 0.5 ha, next to the rural community of Syunik in southern Armenia, has been polluted for many years by mining sludges from the nearest mine watertight cofferdam of the Zangezur copper-molybdenum combine. Activities have been carried out to clean up the soil in this area. After plowing, soil improvers (zeolite, bentonite, and manure) were introduced into the soil. On-site treatments, soil tillage, and the introduction of soil improvers into the soil was implemented in late autumn. Soil and plant samples were taken to determine the content of heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Pb, Co, Mo, Ni). In the following spring, the area was planted with potatoes, eggplant, and peas. A rather high yield was obtained. Analysis of plant samples showed that the content of heavy metals does not exceed the permissible level of the international food safety standard. At the same time, soil studies were carried out in the adjacent areas of the Sotk mine, located to the southeast of Lake Sevan. It was revealed that due to the increase in the volume of the mining industry and the amount of rock dumps, the organoleptic and chemical indicators of the waters of the Sotk and Masrik rivers deteriorated. Compared to the previous decade, the amounts of suspended particles per 1 L of water have increased by 210…317.0%, in the waters of Sotk—by 32.1 mg/L, and in the waters of Masrik—by 13.2 mg/L. The same tendency is observed regarding the amounts of nitrates, sulfates, and hydrogen index, which is mainly due to the chemical composition of rocks. They contain a large amount of Ca, K, Na, Mg, etc. This trend is especially noticeable along the rivers, where intensive agriculture, primarily livestock farming is carried out. The material of the work solves a complex of environmental and economic problems. It is aimed at ensuring environmental safety, improving the ecological and resource properties of soils, increasing the productivity of cultural phytocenoses and the sanitary and hygienic quality of food products.

The article presents the results of studies of the influence of organic and mineral fertilizers, as well as storage and processing technologies on the level of nitrates in potatoes, carrots and cabbage. The study demonstrated that in order to obtain the high yield of environmentally friendly vegetable crops, it is necessary to use biohumus at a norm of 8 t/ha or the combination of 6 t/ha biohumus and N35P35K40. This treatment can provide the potato yield of 420-440 c/ha, carrots 223-240 c/ha, cabbage 500-520 c/ha, while not exceeding the maximum allowable concentration (MAC) of nitrates. At a same time, studies have revealed that storage and processing of these vegetables under the required standard conditions can significantly reduce the amount of nitrates contained in the products. The work we have done shows an example of organic farming as the ecological and climatic project for carbon sequestration in soils, bioimprovement and bioprotection of soils, for increasing the yield and hygienic quality of the harvest. When processing the resulting vegetable products, toxic hazards to public health are eliminated and the ecological safety of the environment is ensured. Additional measures are needed to control the application of fertilizers to soils, the quality of agricultural products during collection, storage and processing.

The research aimed to study the protective effect of the Epin-Extra and Zircon preparations when used with the Stomp and Dianat herbicides in plant cultivation. In all studies, barley served as a test culture. Barley is an excellent model bioobject for genetic and environmental studies. We studied the effect of these preparations on the initial stages of ontogenesis, growth, development, and productivity of barley. In order to determine the mutagenicity of herbicides, we used laboratory germination, growth dynamics, phytotoxicity, formation of chlorophyll mutations, cytotoxicity, and productivity of barley as tests. The following methods were used: (1) seed germination with the use of filter paper rolls and polyethylene, (2) cytogenetic analysis, and (3) field experiment. All studies were performed according to a single scheme. The experimental results were statistically processed. Studying the germination rate and laboratory germination of barley showed a positive effect of the Epin-Extra and Zircon growth regulators when combined with herbicides. Under the action of herbicides on 10-day-old barley seedlings, we observed a strong toxic effect, which was significantly reduced when herbicides acted jointly with growth regulators. The chlorophyll mutations found in the study of plant growth dynamics indicated a mutational process occurring under the action of the Dianat. The mutagenicity of the studied herbicides was revealed by the cytogenetic method. The drop in mitotic activity and an increase in the frequency of chromosome aberrations in meristematic cells of barley indicated this. The effect of the Epin-Extra and Zircon growth regulators improved the process of cell division and significantly reduced the frequency of chromosome aberrations; that is, at the cellular level, they were most effective. The protective effect of growth regulators, when used together with herbicides, was also manifested in a field experiment: Already when production doses of herbicides are reduced by half, the yield significantly increases, the effectiveness of bioprotection is maintained, and the use of plant growth regulators strengthens and enhances the result. Changing the recommended doses makes it possible to significantly reduce the pesticide pressure on agrocenoses, which can considerably improve the state of the environment. That is, practical tasks are also solved to obtain hygienically high-quality agricultural products and to ensure rational and environmentally safe farming. Based on our scientific and experimental material, it seems possible to promote the minimization and control of the applied chemicals in modern plant growing, taking into account the ecological and biological characteristics of the grown plants, the properties of ecosystems, the ecological-geographical and functional-economic characteristics of landscapes.