Phytotoxicity Testing of Composts from Biodegradable Municipal Waste

The production of compost from biodegradable municipal waste is important not only for reducing the amount of landfilled waste. The compost produced with the right technology can replenish the missing organic matter in the soil and improve its properties. This paper deals with the evaluation of the phytotoxicity of composts from garden and kitchen biodegradable wastes. Their effect on plant germination and overall plant condition under laboratory conditions was investigated. The samples of compost from the industrial composting plant of the city of Nitra and compost from the electric composter GG02 were used for this test. The tested composts were mixed with the reference substrate in different concentrations and applied to two plant species – Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and Barley (Hordeum vulgare). After 21 days, the number of germinated plants (i.e. germination rate), the length of the aerial part of the plants, the weight of fresh biomass and also its weight after drying were evaluated. The highest lettuce germination rate was obtained with 25% of the compost from the industrial composting plant. Barley achieved the best germination rate at up to 50% concentration of this compost. However, the highest biomass weight was obtained for the barley in the reference sample, i.e. without the addition of compost. In contrast, the application of compost from the industrial composting plant on lettuce, regardless of its concentration, had a clear stimulating effect, in all the parameters studied. The compost from the electric composter at concentrations of 25 and 50% had an inhibitory effect on all tested parameters of both plants

Composition of the Separated Green Waste in Rural and Urban Area

The municipalities in Slovakia have a duty to separate biodegradable municipal waste (BDMW) from family houses. This duty can be achieved by home composting or by collection of green waste in bio-bins, which are regularly emptied by a collection company. The collected waste is recycled in a composting plant. The conducted research was focused on identifying the composition of the collected green waste and comparing the environmental behaviour of residents in villages and towns. The analyses conducted showed that the separated BDMW from the urban population has a higher rate of contamination, but a lower rate of compostable kitchen waste compared to the residents in villages

Monitoring of the Dendrometric Changes Influenced by Soil Water Content

Drought is generally associated with the persistence of low precipitation amount, decreased soil moisture and water availability relative to the normal levels in a designated area. The effects of drought, range from the morphological to molecular levels, and are evident at all phenological stages of the plant growth, at whatever stage the water deficit occurs. Determination of the surface water demands for irrigation purposes comes out from the assumption of hydrologic processes stationarity. This paper shows our research prerequisite that water stress participates in an important part on the volume changes of over ground parts, which is predictive for the irrigation demand. Malus domestica var. Yellow Transparent was chosen for the measurement of volume changes of the surface plant parts. Our measurements were realised by the Diameter dendrometer small (DD-S) from 24.08. - 13.09.2017. One tree was irrigated by the dose of 50 mm. We compared the dendrometric changes to soil moisture and rainfall on both irrigated and non-irrigated trees. The experiment showed the differences between the irrigated apple tree (the diameters of the branches fluctuated between 11.9 and 12.1 mm) and the non-irrigated apple tree (the diameter of the branches increased after three-day rain from 8.35 to 8.61 mm), in order to determine the water stress of plants based on dendrometric changes and optimize irrigation during the drought period

Decomposition of Single-use Products Made of Bioplastic under Real Conditions of Urban Composting Facility

According to Directive (EU) 2019/904 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019, single-use plastic cutlery, cotton buds, straws and stirrers will be banned in the member states of EU from summer 2021 onwards. Many of them are being replaced by compostable products. The aim of the research was to assess the biological disintegration of selected single-use products under real conditions of urban composting facility. All tested products are established for the Slovak market as 100% compostable by a composting facility. The eight selected products from five different producers were placed into a composting pile of the urban composting facility for 12 weeks. The samples were visually inspected on a regular basis. Temperature and humidity of the pile were continuously measured at the same time. Three samples from each kind of tested product were analyzed, 3 pieces of filter paper were used as the reference samples. The research showed that all tested products were completely or partially disintegrated during the considered period. The average degree of the disintegration of 90% was not reached for one producer only

CULTURAL LANDSCAPE, FLOODS AND REMOTE SENSING

The dynamics of the cultural landscape is associated with the penetration of people into the natural landscape, the settling and adaptation to the needs of the society and its development. Climate creates the decisive influence, specifically the form of extreme high rainfall causing flooding. Adverse impact on the cultural agricultural landscape is mainly the submersion time. This time depends on the configuration of the terrain, its disposition and the existing drainage ditches in the area ensuring the drainage of the flood to the recipients. Long-lasting floods have stipulated taking measures both for the protection of the area from flooding by building dikes and drainage of the flood from the area. Identifying the extent of extreme floods and zones of permanent waterlogging is currently provided by modern technology which allows recording of satellite images in different spectral bands. Within the basic distinguishing signs mainly accruing is used and it is possible to track changes of the extent of flooded areas and thus identify problem areas insufficiently protected against long-term flooding. Consequently, it is possible to solve the concept of exploiting such areas to keep them in the structure of PPF or their reclassification in wetland systems with the necessary legislative security. The aim of this paper is to show the possibility of using satellite images in identifying the extent of flooding in flood