On-farm soil quality estimations

The study aims to develop a battery of on-farm soil quality tests for use in both organic and conventional farming. The work is largely based on available on-farm test systems

Perunan kasteluun tarjolla kelpoja menetelmiä

Perinteiset tykki- ja ramppikastelumenetelmät pitivät hyvin pintansa vertailussa, jossa testattiin kastelumenetelmien vaikutuksia maan vesi- ja ravinnetilaan sekä perunan satoon ja laatuun. Salaojakastelu oli myös hyvä menetelmä. Tihkukastelussa perunapenkki altistui haihdunnalle.vokmkfmp

Eloperäiset viljelysmaat vähenevät

Turvemaita on Suomessa juuri valmistuneen arvion mukaan viljelyksessä 85 000 ha ja multamaita 214 000 ha. Niiden osuus kokonaispeltoalasta on vähentynyt voimakkaasti viime vuosikymmenien aikana. Suuri osa entisistä turvemaista on muuttunut multamaiksi. Multamaita on puolestaan siirtynyt kivennäismaiden luokkaan. Näitä peltoja on myös jäänyt pois viljelystä.vo

Peltomaan laatutesti kertoo maan kunnon

Maan laadun arvioimiseen on valmistumassa testi. Pellolla tehtävä testi arvioi maan fysikaalisia ja biologisia ominaisuuksia. Yhdistämällä ne viljavuusanalyysin kertomiin kemiallisiin ominaisuuksiin saadaan nyt ensimmäistä kertaa kokonaisvaltainen käsitys maan laadusta.vokMAAMPLMYKMP

Mitigation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Optimizing Groundwater Level in Boreal Cultivated Peatland

Optimizing the level of groundwater presents a viable strategy for mitigating the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the cultivation of peatlands. This study investigated the impact of soil hydrological conditions on carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions. The CO2 and CH4 emissions from bare soil were continuously measured using an automated chamber system throughout the growing seasons from 2021 to 2023 at a boreal cultivated peat soil site. Annual CO2 emissions from soil respiration averaged to 21,600 kg ha-1 (April-November) corresponding to carbon (C) loss of 5890 kg ha-1. The CO2 emissions were highly temperature dependent. Lowering the groundwater level (GWL) was found to increase the CO2 emissions nearly linearly. The soil functioned as a CH4 sink for the majority of the growing season, and the total sink corresponded to 27 and 20 kg ha-1 yr-1 CO2 equivalent in 2022 and 2023, respectively. The CH4 emissions occurred generally when soil water content (SWC) exceeded 0.6 m3 m-3 and when GWL was at the depth of less than 30 cm from soil surface. For optimal climate efficiency the mitigation measures must be implemented during the mid-growing season, and the water table should be brought close to the soil surface. Potentially, this can hamper the operation of machinery on the field and reduce the harvested yield. Thus, comprehensive cost-benefit analysis is necessary before adopting a raised water table level in large-scale crop production

Impacts of supplementary drainage on the water balance of a poorly drained agricultural field

In northern clay soils, field drainage is needed to ensure suitable moisture conditions for crop growth and farming operations. Supplementary drainage installations improve the efficiency of old drainage systems, but the hydrological impacts of the drainage procedures are not comprehensively understood or quantified. The objective was to simulate the hydrological behavior of a clay field section and to quantify the effects of a supplementary drainage on the water balance of the field section. The study site, in southern Finland, was originally subsurface drained in 1952 with 32 m drain spacing. Supplementary drainage was installed in 2014, decreasing the drain spacing to 10.7 m. Simulations were carried out with a dual-permeability hydrological model and two model parametrizations describing the field hydrology (1) before and (2) after the supplementary drainage installation. The parameterizations were used for simulations of a nine-year period to quantify the hydrological impacts of the supplementary drainage. For the periods without snow on the ground, the modified Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency for daily drain discharge and topsoil layer runoff values ranged from 0.43 to 0.53 and from 0.44 to 0.53, respectively. During the original drainage setup scenario, the average annual drain discharge was lower (7.8% of precipitation) than topsoil layer runoff and groundwater outflow (10.3% and 26.4%, respectively). For the supplementary drainage scenario, most of the water outflow was through drain discharge and groundwater outflow (20.4% and 21.9%, respectively). The supplementary drainage installation increased the average annual drain discharge by a factor of 2.6, while the annual average topsoil layer runoff and groundwater outflow decreased by 75% and 18%, respectively. The supplementary drainage setup was found to expedite the drying of the field section in spring by 8 days on average compared to the original drainage setup.Peer reviewe