Impact of sustainable tillage on biophysical properties of Planosol and on faba bean yield

Decreased tillage intensity can contribute to a reduced agro-technological footprint and stabilise the negative impact of climate change, especially in leguminous crop cultivation. For this reason, a long-term (since 1988) stationary field experiment has been performed on silty loam Planosol (in Lithuania). The main objective of this study was to establish the influence of sustainable tillage and no-tillage systems on soil aggregate stability to water, penetration resistance, enzymatic activity, abundance of earthworm and faba bean grain yield. Five different tillage systems were investigated: conventional deep and shallow mouldboard ploughing, deep chiselling, shallow disking and no-tillage. No-tillage in faba bean cultivation significantly increased soil structural stability by 40–97%, saccharase content by 0.7–2.0 times, urease activity by 3–4 times, the average quantity of earthworm by 55% and the biomass by 3.6 times. The impact of other ploughless tillage systems on soil properties was positive but not as significant. Faba bean grain yield was more influenced by growing seasons than by different tillage methods

Forecasting of onion botrytis infection using iMetos®sm system

Botrytis infection prediction onion with disease and pest forecasting system „iMETOS®sm" was conducted in 2011 in TWO different agro - climatic zones of districts - Lithuanian Institute of Agrarian and Forest Sciences Centre Institute of Horticulture (Kaunas district.) and UAB 'Sodziaus rytas' (Pasvalys district.). Weather station „iMETOS®sm" is an online automated weather recording stations, the integrated pest and disease forecasting models. To explore the predictive models of the two diseases: Botrytis squamosa infection model (Botrytis squamosa infection model) and Botrytis cinerea risk model (risk model Botrytis cinerea). Aim of the research - the use of plant disease and pest forecasting system „iMETOS®sm" to investigate Botrytis squamosa infection model for predicting leaf mottle and Botrytis cinerea risk model for predicting leaf fleck fastidiosa onions. Bottytis squamosa infection prediction model showed that the onion mottle gray mold to spread favorable conditions in both regions studied occurred between June and August. Kaunas district. B. squamosa infection counted in favor of 37 days of the date of permits. - 45 days. Botrytis risk prediction models have shown that the conditions spotted leaf fleck spread occurred only permits. Was recorded 26 days with a maximum of 60% Botrytis cinerea infection risk value, the recommended use of plant protection products. The comparison of Botrytis squamosa and Botrytis cinerea infection risk forecasting model parameters, according to preliminary estimates the first fungicide spray controlling B. squamosa and B. cinerea infections spread permits, could be carried out on 22 June., Kaunas district. - 24 JuneVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŽemės ūkio akademij

Impact of Tillage Intensity on Planosol Bulk Density, Pore Size Distribution, and Water Capacity in Faba Bean Cultivation

Tillage systems affect many properties of soil, such as soil bulk density, porosity, pore distribution, and soil water capacity. However, the effect of reduced tillage (RT) on faba bean cultivation requires wider analysis. We carried out our investigations at Vytautas Magnus University, Agriculture Academy (Lithuania), as part of a long-term field experiment. The aim was to determine the effect of tillage intensity on soil bulk density, pore distribution and soil water capacity in faba bean cultivation. Five tillage systems were used: deep (DP) and shallow (SP) ploughing, deep cultivation (DC) (chiselling), shallow cultivation (SC) (disking), and no tillage (NT). The results showed that the soil bulk density in NT plots was somewhat higher in upper (0–10 cm) and less in deeper (15–20 cm and 30–35 cm) soil layers compared to DP. The distribution of soil pores depended more on the sampling depth than on tillage. In RT and NT plots, the number of meso-pores was often higher, and that of micro-pores was lower than in ploughed plots. In the upper (0–5 cm) soil layer, the highest water capacity was established in NT, and in deeper layers, this was found in RT plots compared to DP. The density of soil mainly affected the volume of micro-and-macro-pores and water capacity

The Complex Effect of Different Tillage Systems on the Faba Bean Agroecosystem

The interactions of the different factors in differently tilled faba bean agroecosystems are still insufficiently studied and evaluated. For these reasons, we studied the results of a long-term field experiment, which was carried out in the Research Station of Vytautas Magnus University, Agriculture Academy (Lithuania). The aim of this study is to comprehensively evaluate the effect of the deep ploughing (DP), shallow ploughing (SP), deep cultivation, chiseling (DC), shallow cultivation-disking (SC), and no-tillage (NT) systems for the faba bean agroecosystem on the complex interactions of the indices, the relations among the indices, and the strength of the impact; the study employs the integrated evaluation method, which uses the complex evaluation index (CEI). CEI values showed that the NT system had a greater effect on the increase of soil aggregate stability (61%), the decrease of CO2 emissions (12%), and the increase of seed yield (6%) than the DP system. However, the NT system had 36% and 20% higher effect on weed density and biomass increase than DP. CEI values of the DP system were often minimal, i.e., close to 1, which showed the DP system’s ineffectiveness

Comprehensive Assessment of the Effect of Multi-Cropping on Agroecosystems

Multi-cropping is becoming an increasingly popular technique in agriculture to tackle major and complex agroecosystem problems such as biodiversity and soil fertility loss, erosion and degradation, increased greenhouse gas emissions, etc. Comprehensively assessing the impact of multi-cropping intensity on agroecosystems is a new and still under-researched approach that can provide a better understanding of the impact of individual indicators on the overall functioning of biodiverse agroecosystems. Data from a stationary field experiment using multi-cropping at the Vytautas Magnus University Experimental Station between 2020 and 2022 were used to carry out this study. The study included maize, hemp, and faba bean as single, binary, and ternary crops. A complex assessment approach (CEI value) was used to determine the impact of these crops on the agroecosystem, the interrelationships between the main indicators, and the strength of their effects. It was found that the ternary maize–hemp–faba bean crop had the most positive effect on the agroecosystem. The effectiveness of other crops was 2 to 35% less. The lowest value was calculated for the maize–faba bean crop

Piktžolių įvairovė, gausa ir sėklų kiekis dirvožemyje skirtingai įdirbtuose pupų pasėliuose

Vis dar trūksta eksperimentinių duomenų apie pupų pasėlių piktžolių įvairovę, gausumą ir sėklų banką skirtingo intensyvumo žemės dirbimo sąlygomis, todėl 2016–2018 m. Vytauto Didžiojo universitete ilgalaikio žemės dirbimo eksperimento bazėje buvo atlikti tyrimai, kuriuose pupos buvo tiriamos gilaus ir seklaus arimo, gilaus ir seklaus kultivavimo ir sėjos į kviečių ražienas sąlygomis. Remiantis tyrimų rezultatais, oro temperatūra ir kritulių kiekis pupų vegetacijos metu turėjo didesnę įtaką bendram piktžolių skaičiui (r = 0,538 ir 0,833 p > 0,05), nei tirtų žemės dirbimo sistemų tipai. Sumažėjus žemės dirbimo intensyvumui, piktžolių skaičius mažai pasikeitė, ypač sekliai purentuose ir neįdirbtuose laukeliuose. Piktžolių sausoji biomasė varijavo neesmingai (nuo 105,9 iki 125,7 g m-2) ir daugiausia priklausė nuo priešsėlio liekanų kiekio dirvožemio paviršiuje (rtrumpaamžės = -0,982 p ≤ 0,01 ir rdaugiametės = 0,890 p ≤ 0,05). Sekliai purentuose (+43,0%) ir neįdirbtuose (+21,6%) laukeliuose nustatytas didesnis piktžolių sėklų kiekis dirvožemyje, palyginus su giliai suartais laukeliais. Piktžolių sėklų kiekis dirvožemyje pasiskirstė beveik vienodai, neatsižvelgiant į taikytą žemės dirbimo gylį ar metodąAgronomijos fakultetasVytauto Didžiojo universiteta

Living mulch and weed competitiveness in maize crop

Vytauto Didžiojo universitetasŽemės ūkio akademij

Interaction between soil chemical, physical and biological properties in sustainable faba bean cultivation

Reduced soil tillage technologies become the most widespread worldwide, however the impact of tillage intensity on interaction between soil properties in faba bean cultivation in cold climate conditions is not established so much. For this reason, in 2016-2018, the investigations on the basis of a long-term stationary field experiment (since 1988) was carried out at the Experimental Station of the Aleksandras Stulginskis University (formally Vytautas Magnus University, 54°52' N, 23°49' E). Five different tillage systems were tested: 1) conventional (22–25 cm) ploughing with a mouldboard plough (control), 2) shallow (12–15 cm) ploughing with a mouldboard plough, 3) deep (22–25 cm) chiselling, 4) shallow (10–12 cm) disking and 5) no-tillage. Investigations showed strong relations between disposition of pre-crop residues, soil chemical composition, soil structural stability and penetration resistance, soil enzymatic activity and earthworm’s biomass. Cultivation of faba bean in reduced tillage conditions caused annual increase of nitrogen, potassium and magnesium proportion in the soilAgronomijos fakultetasVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŽemės ūkio akademij

Pasėlių įvairinimas piktžolių kontrolei

Agronomijos fakultetasVytauto Didžiojo universiteta