Some forms of soil compaction occur on arable lands both in Hungary (1.82 million ha) and in
Croatia (0.97 million ha) having negative impacts on agricultural production. Tillage-induced subsoil
compaction has oft en occurred in the Pannonian region in relation to traffi c-induced compaction.
Soil compaction has become a soil management problem during the last decade as a result of the
occurrence of periods of water-logging as well as droughts. Th is study contains an evaluation of
factors relating to subsoil compaction, as indicator of climate eff ects on arable fi elds. Th is paper is
based on soil condition monitoring and measuring that was started 32 years ago and on short and
long-term experiments modelling and checking the extension of compaction in the soil. Th e survey
comprised 1526 monitoring places and 38 experimental plots. Th e following fi ve points were chosen
for monitoring: 1) root zone state (to a depth of 0-60 cm); 2) occurrence of compacted layer (indicating
likelihood of risk); 3) extension of the compacted layer (indicating the degree of damage); 4) long term
eff ects of tillage (soil state deterioration or improvement), and 5) tillage-induced water-logging and
drought damage impacts on yield loss. Th e main objectives of the experiments were: 1) occurrence and
the extent of tillage-pan damage in soils of diff erent susceptibility to compaction; 2) consequences on
water management in each of the years covered by the experiments; 3) soil quality consequences, and
4) alleviation of pan-compaction by mechanical and biological methods. Long-term fi eld monitoring
and experimental work have both convincingly proven a correlation between subsoil compaction
and the degree of climatic damage. In view of the fi ndings, trends in soil tillage can be grouped into
the following two categories: climate damage mitigating and climate-stress increasing ones. Th e
formation and location of compacted layers provided information concerning the depth, the method
and the type of tillage applied, along with the expected risk for crop production under extreme climate
conditions
