Abstract:
Among all agrarian-social megaprojects realized in the steppe zone, the Virgin Land
[Tselina] (1954-1963) and the Land reform of the 1990s exerted the most considerable
influence on the state and properties of current agro-landscapes. It was the projects of opposite
orientation which every on its stage set the highest in history pace of the landscape dynamics in
the steppe zone. The consistent impact of these megaprojects, one of which practically
annihilated steppes, and the other created terms to realize steppe restoration potential, allows
considering them in totality as the united experiment of the global scale for revealing and
evaluation of steppe self-restoration. Thanks to this experiment in the steppes of Eurasia, new
dynamic space – after virgin land was formed. Using new data, including field studies and
discovered novel factors, we estimated the Virgin land campaign's consequences and the Land
reform. A further fundamental generalization of these megaprojects' effects, landscape, and
scientific heritage required developing an adaptation of steppe land use was conducted as a
response to climatic and other current challenges.
