Anthropogenic air pollution in the ancient times

Several comprehensive publications have been issued recently on the environmental pollution of the past times (e.g. Brimblecombe, 1987; Brimblecombe and Pfister, 1990; McNeill, 2001, Bowler and Brimblecombe, 2000; Karatzas, 2000, 2001). The aim of the study is to give further information on the subject - mainly in the ancient and the medieval times. Napjainkig számos összefoglaló kötet, illetve tanulmány jelent meg az elmúlt korok környezetszennyezéséről (pl. Brimblecombe, 1987; Brimblecombe and Pjister, 1990; McNeill. 2001, Bowler and Brimblecombe, 2000; Karatzas, 2000,2001). E dolgozat célja, hogy további adalékokkal szolgáljon a tárgykörben - elsősorban az ókorból és a középkorból

Quality and quantity of winter wheat varieties in 22 years’ time range

The Nagygombos experiments of the Szent István University, Gödöllő, Hungary have always been a testing area for various agronomic technologies as well as a research site for evaluating the performance of crop varieties. The present paper is intended to give an overview of 18 winter wheat Triticum aestivum L. varieties tested during the time range between 1996 and 2018. All of the varieties were studied under similar agronomic conditions, each of them for min 3 years in a series of a polyfactorial replicated field trial. The 120 kg/ha N plant nutrition applications of the respective crop years were processed in the evaluation. Amount of grain yield, protein %, wet gluten content and farinographic values of the varieties examined were compared. The results obtained suggest, that most of the varieties had a rather high variation concerning yield figures, however protein and farinographic indicators proved to be more stable characteristics. Wet gluten content was influenced mainly by the crop year. The study may support a conclusion that certain varieties have shown a higher stability in technological quality manifestation regardless to the amount of their grain yield. Alföld 90, Yubileynaya 50, Mv Magdaléna and Mv Toldi varieties proved to be the best quality varieties in this research series

Légtömegtípusok objektív osztályozása Szegedre különös tekintettel a levegő szennyezettségére a téli hónapokban = An objective classification system of air mass types for Szeged, Hungary with special interest to air pollution levels in the winter months

This paper determines the characteristic air mass types over the Carpathian Basin for the winter (December, January, and February) and summer (June, July and August) months with the levels of the main air pollutants. Based on the ECMWF data set, daily sea-level pressure fields analysed at 00 UTC were prepared for each air mass type (cluster) in order to relate sea-level pressure patterns with the levels of air pollutants in Szeged. The data basis comprises daily values of twelve meteorological and eight pollutant parameters for the period 1997-2001. Objective definition of the characteristic air mass types occurred by using the methods of Factor Analysis and Cluster Analysis. According to the results, during the winter months five air mass types (clusters) were detected corresponding to levels of the primary pollutants that appear with higher concentrations when irradiance is high and wind speed is low. This is the case when an anticyclone is found over the Carpathian Basin and when an anticyclone prevails over the region south of Hungary, influencing the weather of the country. Low levels of pollutants occur when zonal currents exert influence over Hungary. During the summer months anticyclones and anticyclone edge situations are found over the Carpathian Basin. (During the prevalence of anticyclone edge situations, the Carpathian Basin is found at the edge of a high pressure centre.) As a result of high irradiance and very low NO levels, secondary pollutants are highly enriched

The Effect of Foliar Zinc Application on the Leaf Chlorophyll Concentrations and Grain Yields of the Winter Wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum</i> L.) in the Field Experiments of Two Seasons

This research examined the effectiveness of zinc foliar fertilizers. Two winter wheat varieties, GK Pilis and Zvezdana, were tested in a Zn-limited meadow chernozem soil. Crop yields and chlorophyll concentrations of the leaves were examined in the growing seasons of 2020/2021 of favorable weather conditions and 2021/2022 of drought weather conditions. In the experiment, three treatments were carried out with monozinc foliar fertilizer of a concentrated 12% (w/v) zinc sulfate heptahydrate solution, and the fourth plot was designed as the untreated control. The first monozinc treatment was applied at a dose of 1 L ha−1 and the second monozinc treatment at a dose of 2 L ha−1. These treatments were applied at tillering (BBCH 21–22). The third monozinc treatment was applied at a dose of 1 L ha−1 at tillering and flag leaf emergence (BBCH 21–22, BBCH 37). Samples were taken several times in the vegetation period, and measurements were made using different methods (SPAD, determination of total chlorophyll concentration from acetone solution) before and after Zn treatments. In 2020/2021 of favorable weather conditions, the yield of Zvezdana was 5.47 t ha−1 and that of Gk Pilis was 6.11 t ha−1, compared to 2021/2022 of drought weather conditions, in which year the yield of Zvezdana was 3.14 t ha−1 and that of Gk Pilis was 2.79 t ha−1. Yields of both varieties increased with increasing NPK nutrient doses. In 2021/2022, even at nutrient level D (NPK basal fertilizer and two-times N topdressing), we harvested on average twice as much as in 2020/2021 at nutrient level A (N basal fertilizer and once N topdressing). No significant effects were found between the foliar fertilizers in 2020/2021. In 2021/2022, Zn treatments, mainly at four nutrient levels tended to increase the yields of both varieties. The first treatment resulted in a grain yield reduction of 3% for GK Pilis, and the second treatment resulted in a grain yield reduction of 1.2% for Zvezdana. After the second and third treatments, grain yield reductions were 0.1%–0.5%. Although there was no significant difference in terms of the main averages, foliar fertilizer was found to be effective in the second year. The relationship between chlorophyll and grain yield was found to depend on the year and variety. A weak correlation (r = 0.33, p p p p p < 0.05

Effects of Nutrient Supply and Seed Size on Germination Parameters and Yield in the Next Crop Year of Winter Wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum</i> L.)

Winter wheat is one of the most important crops globally and also in Hungary. Hungary has excellent crop production potential including seed production. The aim of our experiment is to determine the effects of different amounts and proportions of nutrients and those of the seed size of winter wheat in laboratory seed tests on the seed parameters (germination percentage, germination power, seedling health and vigour), as well as in field tests of the seed parameters (emergence percentage and yield of next crop year). Laboratory seed tests of winter wheat variety GK Petur were conducted with seeds that underwent ten nutrient treatments and of three seed size fractions over four crop years, together with field experiments in three growing seasons. Compared to the untreated control group, N treatments significantly decreased the health of the seedlings in the next generation of winter wheat. PK treatments without N increased the germination percentage, vigour value and emergence percentage significantly, but the health of the seedlings decreased. In contrast, NPK treatments with a ratio of 2:1:1 improved all the tested parameters compared to those of the control group. The increase in seed sizes significantly increased the germination power, seedling health, vigour value, emergence percentage and the yield of the next crop year. It can be concluded that the factors of nutrient supply, crop year of the seed production and the seed size significantly influence the quality of the seed (germination percentage, germination power, seedling health, vigour and emergence percentage), thus also the yield of the next generation