In the plan for the development of the national economy of the Soviet Union during 1959-1965, measures aimed at increasing crop yields and improving the productivity of socially organized livestock farming occupied an important place. To successfully accomplish these tasks, it was necessary to conduct detailed studies of the country's soil cover in order to assess soil quality, identify new land resources suitable for agricultural production, and comprehensively investigate the agricultural productivity characteristics of soils for the development of regionally adapted agronomic and organizational-economic measures. Through the joint efforts of soil scientists, agronomists, botanists, and agricultural climatologists, extensive studies were carried out on the natural characteristics of the Ural and Volga River regions. Nevertheless, the investigation of soil resources in these natural regions remained insufficient, and land productivity in many areas continued to be relatively low. An analysis of the current state of soil research in the various regions of the Urals and the Volga basin, the identification of directions for future investigations, and the development of methods for increasing land productivity had become urgent tasks. For this purpose, an interregional conference of soil scientists from the Ural and Volga regions was convened in Ufa on April 6, 1959. The participants included soil scientists from the Bashkir and Tatar republics, Kuibyshev Oblast, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Kurgan Oblast, Gorky Oblast, Orenburg Oblast, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Ukraine, and the city of Moscow. Conference participants exchanged experiences from their work and engaged in detailed discussions of the principal tasks facing soil scientists during the forthcoming seven-year period. Particular attention was devoted to agricultural soil regionalization, soil classification and grading, large-scale soil mapping, and agronomic measures aimed at improving soil fertility. The conference also discussed in detail issues concerning soil genesis and the biological, physical, and chemical properties of soils. Following these discussions, the conference adopted resolutions concerning the coordination of soil-science research and the clarification of methods and principles for both field and laboratory soil investigations. Special emphasis was placed on the necessity of expanding large-scale mapping activities and organizing comprehensive interregional soil studies. The materials of the conference published in this volume will undoubtedly help mobilize soil scientists to address the major and demanding tasks set forth in the Seven-Year National Economic Development Plan.