Temporal Changes in Soil Water Content and Penetration Resistance under Three Tillage Systems

This study aims to evaluate the impact of different tillage systems on water conservation and penetration resistance in Stagnosols on slopes. Three tillage systems were evaluated during a long-term experiment in Central Croatia in a period from 2011 to 2014, in order to identify sustainable land management practices: control treatment (CT), ploughing and other seedbed layer preparation up and down the slope; ploughing across the slope (PA) – to 30 cm, other operations depending on the crop, also across the slope; and ploughing across the slope (30 cm) with subsoiling (SUB) to 50 cm. Penetration resistance and soil water content were measured each investigated season during five terms to a depth of 60 cm. Tillage systems significantly influence soil water content and penetration resistance, but the results showed great temporal and vertical variation in each investigated season. The results also showed that in low quality Pseudogley deep loosening is required because of the inability of these soils to recover naturally. The hardness of these soils decreases after tillage, or when the moisture content increases, so the period with potentially limiting soil impedance is shorter in systems with subsoiling than in conventionally tilled soils. Fallow has been effective in reducing soil strength in non-traffic areas and increasing soil moisture content. When comparing cropping variants it was established that only a system including subsoiling ensures higher moisture content. Results indicate that since soil water content and penetration resistance were adversely affected, subsoiling should be applied continuously in Pseudogley sites in the hills. Generally, soil resistance increased with time from the date of primary tillage. Although penetration resistance values increase after tillage, the differences were attributed to temporal variation of soil water content. In this study soil moisture condition is presented as a more important factor for soil resistance than the time between primary tillage and measurements

Milestones in the development of agronomic management practices in crop production

From the dawn of the history of the human race, agriculture has always been a profound activity of mankind producing food and feed as well as various plant originated materials for further processing. Agronomy, like any other human activity, depends on the perpetual development of knowledge and technical skills, - in a modern context – science and innovation. This paper is intended to provide the reader with information regarding the main phases of the development of agricultural production from the Neolithic societies through the early Mesopotamian and Egyptian empires to the inventions of first organised learned society of Rome. The major research findings of the past two millennia including agro-chemistry, genetics and technical development are presented. Such a review should not lead to any scientific conclusions, but rather a philosophical postulate similar to that of Jonathan Swift written some centuries ago: “And he gave it for his opinion, that whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground, where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together”

Review of soil tillage history and new challenges in Hungary

This study provides an overview of the development of soil tillage in Hungary. The primary goal is to present factors that have been promoting and hindering progress in tillage from the first authoritative records – from the eleventh century – up to now when soil tillage became a tool in the climate damage mitigation methods. Progress was restricted during the first eight hundred years of the history of tillage by lack of expertise and the use of primitive tools. In retrospect, much of the traditions are regarded as obstacles to progress while the adoption of certain foreign trends fostered development in most cases. The history of the development of tillage in Hungary is divided into seven eras, with equal positive and negative impacts on the quality of the soils. The quality of soils was threatened before 1900 primarily by the multi-ploughing systems, while reasonable tillage offered a chance for improvement. The geographical location of Hungary in Europe and the Hungarian language entailed a certain degree of isolation as well. It may have been the reason why Hungarian reasonable tillage could not become a forerunner of minimum tillage. New soil tillage methods developed abroad had influenced primarily education and experiments carried out in Hungary. After the regime change, however, such methods came to be driving progress in practice as well, thanks to a widened horizon. In 1998 soil conservation tillage were used on about 25 per cent of the total sown land, however, a decade and a half later the area cultivated by conservation methods had doubled. A survey conducted five years ago found that significant progress had been made in soil conservation tillage in dry seasons but the achievements are often eroded by return to the conventional modes during wet seasons

The Effect of Mulching on the Biological and Physical Properties of Soil in Maize

To study the effect of different mulching levels on the physical and biological properties of the soil. A field experiment was conducted in Gödöllő Szárítópuszta of the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences experimental farm (Pest county). The experiment was laid down in a random block design with five treatments, namely M0%= control, M25%= 25%, M50%= 50%, M75%= 75%, and M100%= 100% level of mulch cover. Soil moisture content (SMC), soil penetration resistance (SPR) and earthworm abundance were measured. SMC, SPR and earthworm abundance were taken at 15-day intervals unless the weather prevented sampling. The experiment was set up from May 2019 until September 2019. The statistical data was carried out using one-way variance analysis with Tukey HSD (Honestly Significant Difference) multiple comparisons post hoc tests. The significance level used in the statistical studies was 5%. Mulch treatments improved water significantly in the first two months (June and July) of crop growth at 10 and 20 cm, however, moisture was not conserved for too long. Mulch treatment did not affect penetration resistance in all treatments. SPR was high after July in all the treatments due to low SMC. The measured SPR reached 5.3 MPa in August in M25%. The highest earthworm abundance was measured at M100% in August while the lowest was measured in control treatments. The grain yield was highest at M50% (1704 kg/ha) compared to the control. Mulch treatments were assessed based on factors such as soil moisture content, biological activity and penetration resistance and mulch was partially found to be advantageous

The Role of Mixed Cropping to Climate Change in Sofi District, Harari Regional State, Ethiopia

Az éghajlatváltozás negatív hatásai intenzíven sújtják az afrikai mezőgazdasági ágazatot. Az olyan országok számára, mint Etiópia, amelyek megélhetése elsősorban a csapadékra támaszkodó önellátó mezőgazdaságon alapul, nagyon fontos, hogy alkalmazkodjanak a változó helyzethez. Ezért az éghajlatváltozás negatív hatásainak mérsékléséhez elengedhetetlen a kontextus-specifikus alkalmazkodási stratégiák kidolgozása. A tanulmány célja az volt, hogy azonosítsa azokat a mezőgazdasági gyakorlatokat, amelyek maximalizálják a termelést és kímélik a természeti erőforrásokat. A vizsgálati körzet, a falvak és a reprezentatív válaszadók kiválasztása során háromlépcsős mintavételi eljárást követtek. Ennek megfelelően egy közigazgatási egységet (kebele) és 60 háztartásfőt választottunk ki célzott mintavétellel, illetve szisztematikus véletlenszerű mintavétellel. A talajadatokon és a másodlagos adatokon kívül szerkezetinterjú ütemtervet dolgoztunk ki, előzetesen teszteltük és felhasználtuk a kvantitatív adatok gyűjtésére. A talajelemzés eredménye azt mutatta, hogy az ökológiai mezőgazdaság hozzájárul a talaj kémiai tulajdonságainak javításához, vagyis a vegyes gazdálkodási gyakorlat a talaj pH-értéke, nitrogénje, szervesanyag-tartalma, szerves szén- és elérhető foszfortartalma szignifikánsan eltér a monokultúrás gazdálkodási rendszertől. ----- The negative impact of climate change has been striking the agricultural sector in Africa. For countries like Ethiopia, whose livelihood occupation of the nation is mainly based on subsistence agriculture that highly rely on rainfall, making an adjustment to adapt to the changing situation is very crucial. Therefore, designing contextual specific adaptation strategies are essential to moderate the negative effect of climate change. The aim of the study was to identify the agricultural practices and conserve natural resources. Three stages sampling procedure was followed in selecting the study district, villages and representative respondents. Accordingly, one kebele and 60 household heads were selected using purposive sampling and systematic random sampling, respectively. In addition to the soil data and secondary data, structure interview schedule was developed, pre-tested and used for collecting quantitative data. The soil analysis result showed that organic agriculture contributed for the improvement of soil chemical property that is the mixed cropping farming practice was significantly different in soil pH, nitrogen, organic matter, organic carbon and available phosphorous than in mono cropping farming system. The descriptive result showed that all the farmers (100%) of the sample respondent participated in land preparation and 98.3% of them participated in manure application and also 98.3% of the sample respondents in participated weeding practices. 98.3% of the sample respondents were participated in harvesting activities. 93.3% of the sample respondents were participated in the fertilizer application activities. 68.3% of the sample respondents were participated in irrigation activities. 13.3% sample respondents were participated in seed treatment activates. To adopt organic agriculture practices whereby financial institutions and other agricultural funders should extend credit or support to agricultural activities with farming practices and technologies that promote organic agriculture. This study has shown that organic agriculture can contribute to better soil health and therefore better crop yields thereby strengthening the adaptation efforts of smallholder farmers. It is therefore recommended that smallholder farmers in Sofi district practice organic agriculture farming practices for adaptation efforts

Land Management Impacts on Soil Properties and Initial Soil Erosion Processes in Olives and Vegetable Crops

This research aims to assess the impacts of soil use management on runoff, soil losses, and their main soil controls in vegetable cropland (CROP), tilled olives (OT), and grass-covered olive orchards (OGC) on Leptosol in Croatia. Soil analysis and rainfall simulation experiments were conducted to quantify runoff (Run), soil, and nutrient losses. Bulk density (BD) was significantly higher at OT plots, in addition to the CROP plots. Water-stable aggregates (WSA), mean weight diameter (MWD), and soil organic matter (OM) were significantly higher in OGC plots compared to the other land uses. Run and soil loss (SL) were significantly higher in CROP and OT plots compared to the OGC plots. The CROP plots showed soil management that can be considered as unsustainable with 52, 68- and 146-times higher losses of phosphorus (P loss), nitrogen (N loss), and carbon (C loss) compared to the OGC plots. The principal component analysis showed that MWD was associated with vegetation cover (VC), water-holding capacity (WHC), WSA, OM, total nitrogen (TN), time to ponding (TP), and time to runoff (TR). These variables were negatively related to P2O5, Run, SL, and P, N, and C loss. Results indicate the need for the adoption of conservation strategies in croplands and olive orchards

Soil Compaction in different ages vineyards in Pannonian Croatia. Part II. Modeling spatial variability of soil compaction parameters in vineyard

Geostatistical modeling with different interpolation methods represents progress in describing and monitoring the spatial variability of soil properties. By choosing the proper interpolation method it is possible to produce distribution maps of investigated soil properties which are characterized by significant accuracy, and thus reduced required number of samples for the soil description and determination. On the example of determined soil penetration resistance and collected undisturbed soil samples from thirty years and seven years vineyards, and with geostatistical data analysis followed by comparison of interpolation models, spatial maps of soil resistance, bulk density and soil moisture are produced. This paper presents the applicability of GIS for characterization the spatial variation of soil resistance, bulk density and soil moisture based on 72 undisturbed samples collected at three depths (0-10 cm, 11-20 cm and 21-30 cm) and 177 measured soil penetration resistance in each of the studied vineyards located in central Croatia. The study points to the usefulness of geostatistical techniques analysis of spatial distribution of some physical soil properties. The results provided in graphical form and their associated variance, indicating the possibility of using geostatistical analysis for the sustainable management of soils in the vineyards and plans for soil conservation in the study area