The paper deals with the environmental issues of agriculture. Examples are given that pose a threat to the vital activity of living organisms from various types of agricultural and human activities. The subject of the study is the analysis of environmental issues arising from the intensification of the development of agricultural industry. Intensive agricultural activity leads to pollution of surface rivers, lakes, seas and groundwater, soil degradation and aquatic ecosystems; violation of the water regime in large areas during drainage and irrigation; desertification due to wind erosion; destruction of natural habitats of living organisms of flora and fauna. An urgent problem of agriculture is a decrease in the content of vitamins and microelements in crop production and the accumulation of harmful substances in them. The reasons for these negative processes are soil degradation, intensification of agricultural production.

The article presents the results of a study of vital activity of nodule bacteria of Trifolium praténse, Trifolium hibridum, Trifolium alexandrinum and Trifolium incarnatum as environmentally friendly bioindicators in soil toxicity assessment. The study focused on the number of nodules and their stain with leghemoglobin. The materials were taken from the plots artificially contaminated with heavy metals (lead (Pb), arsenic (As), mercury (Hg), fluorine (F), zinc (Zn) and cobalt (Co)). The results of the experiments showed that environmental distress occurs when the nitrogen-fixing nodules are stained pink or red in the range of 8-15%, which indicates that the lead content in the soil exceeds the threshold limit value (TLV) by 1.2-1.5 times. A significant decrease in nodule activity and weak or no stain were observed with an increase in mercury concentration by 1.1 times. It was found that the mass of rhizobium or the supply of organic nitrogen obtained by plants from fixation from the air is directly dependent on the grass density. At high concentrations of heavy metals in the soil, the nodule bacteria lose the amount of leghemoglobin, therefore the stain of bacteria is disrupted, so this indicator can be used as a bioindicator in soil toxicity assessment.

The destructions which occur in the mountain phytocenosis reduce the adaptive capabilities of plant formation, as a result their productivity, longevity and resistance to adverse factors decrease. The species previously typical of indigenous communities do not find ecological niches. They are on the verge of extinction. This contributes to the degradation of species composition. Various secondary communities become widespread, the whole complex of existence in which differs from the conditions of indigenous communities. In order to study the state of mountain vegetation, phytocenoses were monitored and assessed, taking into account the presence of leguminous components. Vegetation monitoring was carried with regard to the vertical zonation, where the plant species and their disappearance were determined under the influence of anthropogenic and zoogenic factors. The areas with high degradation were determined, where the amount of plant formation increased and the diversity of valuable grass and bean cultures decreased, depending on anthropogenic factors. It was found that the early spring period nutrition of growing plants with the biological product Nikfan promotes the increase in the fodder mass of plants, ensuring their growth and full development. In our experiments, the doses of the biological product in a concentration of 0.1% were justified, creating favorable conditions for the development and growth rate of crops and beans.

Nowadays researchers are focused on biological farming. In modern environmental conditions the reduction of the chemical load on the environment is a current issue. In the article the following plants are used as pest management, especially, with Colorado potato beetle: jimson weed, white hellebore, Camelina. They contain a lot of alkaloids and essential oils that inhibit weeds and frightening off potato pests. The use of such agricultural practices on large areas reduces the cost of chemical means of pest control and improves product quality while maintaining the environment.

To reduce the toxicity of oiled land plantsaccumulators were used. Para-aminobenzoic acid and the biological preparation Baikal EM-1 were used with biologics and zeolite-containing clays. It was found that seeding accumulating plants treated with the Baikal EM-1 biological product, repeated watering and sweetening with an aqueous solution of a Stevia plant the concentration of oil in the soil and the number of hydrocarbons significantly reduces (from 3.2 to 0.8%). At the same time lead and cadmium decrease to maximum permissible concentrations.