Bălți Steppe


Bălți Steppe, also Beltsy Steppe is a hilly area with few trees, dominated by agriculturally cultivated land, and occasionally by grasses and shrubs, in the northern part of Moldova. It is characterised by moderate but unstable seasons, generally hot summers and cold winters.
The Bălți Steppe has a total surface of 1,920 km, 2.7 per cent of it are forests. The region, as the rest of Moldova, is traditionally an agricultural area, favored by several factors, such as the chernozem.
The untouched natural richness of the northern Moldavian region became known as Bălți steppe only in the beginning of the last century.

Span and topography

As a geographic area Bălți steppe is one of the three components of the Moldavian Plain, which in turn is one of the six components of the Moldavian Plateau. Despite the name, Bălți steppe is not a flatland, but a region dotted with hills.
In Moldova, Bălți steppe, 1,920 km, and Middle Prut Valley, 2,930 km are sometimes together referred to as Moldavian Plain, however one should be warned that in Romania the latter term is used as a synonym for the Jijia Plain. Before 1940 the term used to mean Jijia Plain plus Middle Prut Valley plus Bălți steppe, because the three regions have an identical relief and natural vegetation. To make the things even more complicated, in Moldova sometimes Bălți steppe and Middle Prut Valley are lumped together into one term, Bălți steppe.
Together, they cover the municipality of Bălți, the districts of Glodeni, Rîșcani, and Fălești, as well as parts of Drochia, Sângerei, and Ungheni districts.
The waters of the Bălți steppe fall into the Răut river, while those of the Middle Prut Valley fall into the Prut river.
Bălți steppe has altitudes of ca. 200 m, lower than the surrounding Central Moldavian Plateau, and Dniester Hills. The surrounding hills are characterized by deep gorges, and the terms plain and steppe are employed to denote the fact that the area in-between the hill formations is visibly more lean and less slant.

Vegetation and agriculture

The traditional natural vegetation of this area of smooth hills was forest steppe. Nowadays, however, it is intensely farmed, and thus is rendered as a steppe.
The region is a traditional agricultural area, favored by several factors, such as the black earth, the tradition, and a high degree of deforestation that occurred in the 19th century. Over 80% of the land is used for intensive agriculture, and less than 3% are forests.
Crops, vegetables, commercial plants, fruit trees, livestock fodder, and occasionally grapes, potatoes, and berry shrubs are cultivated in the region. The agriculture overwhelmingly dominates traditional vegetation, forests, and occasionally the forest steppes. Region's wildlife includes rabbits, roes, storks, geese and ducks, however in the last half-century these species populations declined in numbers because there are only few remaining forest habitats remaining. A traditional horse breeding area, in the last century the Bălți steppe has specialized in livestock, and poultry.
Two varieties of winter barley "Auriu" and "Sokor", produced by the Bălți Research Institute "Selecția", specialized in field crops. They are very productive in the conditions of unstable moistening of the Bălți steppe.

Poets and personalities about Bălți Steppe

First human settlements appeared on the territory of Bălți steppe in ancient times. Archaeological excavations witness that the humans settled here as early as Stone Age.