Konzervacijska poljoprivreda sa svojim temeljnim principima (trajna pokrovnost tla, minimalna obrada i plodored) jedan je od najučinkovitijih sustava za prilagodbu poljoprivredne proizvodnje ...nepovoljnim uvjetima klimatskih promjena. Brojne prednosti konzervacijske poljoprivrede dodatno su izražene integracijom pokrovnih usjeva u plodored. Pokrovni usjevi uvode se u inovativne sustave biljne proizvodnje u svrhu poboljšanja kemijskih, fizikalnih i bioloških svojstava tla uz pozitivan utjecaj na bioraznolikost i doprinos održivosti poljoprivredne proizvodnje. Cilj ovoga rada je pregledno prikazati neke od glavnih uloga pokrovnih usjeva u konzervacijskoj poljoprivredi s osvrtom na zaštitu tla od erozije, konzervaciju vode i hraniva te utjecaj na organsku tvar i strukturu tla.
Conservation agriculture with its basic principles (permanent soil cover, minimal soil disturbance and crop rotation) is one of the most effective tools for adapting agricultural production to the adverse conditions of climate change. The numerous advantages of conservation agriculture are further expressed by the integration of cover crops into the crop rotation. Cover crops are introduced into innovative plant production systems for the purpose of improving the chemical, physical and biological properties of the soil with a positive impact on biodiversity and contributing to the sustainability of agricultural production. The aim of this paper is to present some of the main roles of cover crops in conservation agriculture with emphasis on soil erosion protection, water and nutrient conservation, and the impact on organic matter and soil structure.
Knowledge of the relationship between soil sampling density and spatial autocorrelation with interpolation accuracy allows more time- and cost-efficient spatial analysis. Previous studies produced ...contradictory observations regarding this relationship, and this study aims to determine and explore under which conditions the interpolation accuracy of chemical soil properties is affected. The study area covered 823.4 ha of agricultural land with 160 soil samples containing phosphorus pentoxide (P2O5) and potassium oxide (K2O) values. The original set was split into eight subsets using a geographically stratified random split method, interpolated using the ordinary kriging (OK) and inverse distance weighted (IDW) methods. OK and IDW achieved similar interpolation accuracy regardless of the soil chemical property and sampling density, contrary to the majority of previous studies which observed the superiority of kriging as a deterministic interpolation method. The primary dependence of interpolation accuracy to soil sampling density was observed, having R2 in the range of 56.5–83.4% for the interpolation accuracy assessment. While this study enables farmers to perform efficient soil sampling according to the desired level of detail, it could also prove useful to professions dependent on field sampling, such as biology, geology, and mining.
Climate change (CC) is undoubtedly induced and accelerated by human activity and can pose a serious threat to mankind by reducing food production. Significant weather aberrations in form of the ...uneven precipitation pattern, more frequent and intense occurrence of temperature fluctuations accompanied by changes in wind intensity and frequency, amount of clouds, intensity and quality of sunlight can be expected. Maybe the most vulnerable sector affected by CC is agriculture. So, it is important to mitigate and adapt to a new situation through different and most adaptable agricultural strategies. Accordingly, scientists, experts, politicians, decisionmakers, and others increasingly emphasize the need for further development of sustainable agricultural production, whose management will be compatible with different ecosystems (agroecosystem compliance with global ecosystems), while simultaneously restoring degraded agricultural land. One of the best solutions for sustainable agricultural production, under CC conditions, can be Conservation agriculture. Climate change is not only an abstraction, which is why one of the most important roles of conservation agriculture today is its ability to adapt and mitigate these changes. The basis of conservation agriculture production is in management set on three fundamental postulates, which contextually unify climate-soil-plant, while respecting agroecological and socio-economic differences.
Conservation tillage (CT) is an effective tool for maintaining crop productivity under adverse climate conditions, while its adoption is conditioned by the possible negative response of crop weed. ...Research with CT and liming (L) was conducted at different experimental sites on acid soils (ES 1 and ES 2) to determine the maize weediness and yield. The tillage treatments used were ST (conventional tillage), CTD (deep loosening), CTS (shallow loosening), and liming; Ly (CaO) and Ln (no CaO). The weediness assessment was conducted at the V7 and R5 maize growth stages. Weed density (WD), biomass (WB), weed coverage (WC), and species density (WSN) were determined. The highest WD was recorded on ES 2 in V7, and WB, WC, and WSN were significantly higher at CTS in R5 compared to ST. Liming affected the decrease of WD and WC in V7 and WB, WC, and WSN in R5. The average maize yield on ES 2 was 36% higher compared to ES 1. CTS resulted with the highest yield at ES 1, while at ES 2, it was similar to ST. Liming application significantly increased the maize yield. The given results indicated the positive impact of CT and L on crop productivity in different agroecological conditions, despite the increased weediness.
Effects of soil tillage (CTconventional, SS-subsoiling, CH-chiselling, DH-disk-harrowing and NT-no-till) and nitrogen rate (reduced N1, optimal N2 and luxury N3) on yield and yield components of ...maize and winter wheat in two different agricultural subregions of Croatia (Magadenovac and Cacinci site), were studied in the years 2013–2014 as part of a long-term experiment. Maize yield and yield components were influenced by site properties, tillage and nitrogen treatments. The highest yields and yield components were recorded at the Magadenovac site with N2 and N3. The lowest values of the yield and yield components of maize were recorded on NT and were significantly lower than CT, SS, CH and DH, among which no significant differences were recorded. Winter wheat yield and yield components were affected by site properties and nitrogen rates while soil tillage treatments only had an influence on grain and straw yield and plant height. Winter wheat achieved maximum yield and yield components on a N3 and N2 and at the Magadenovac site. Winter wheat grain yield decreased in the following order: SS > DH > CH > NT > CT. The obtained results indicate the importance of optimal nitrogen fertilization and the possibility of the implementation of conservation tillage for maize and winter wheat production in different agroecological conditions.
Biochar, a carbon-rich material, is highlighted to improve soil fertility, simultaneously mitigating climate change by carbon sequestration. Combined with mineral fertilizer, it can increase ...weediness, the major source of yield loss in agricultural production. Research with biochar was conducted in Eastern Croatia in 2016, with the aim to investigate the influence of biochar and mineral fertilizer on weed infestation and winter wheat yield. Field experiments were set up as a split-plot where biochar (B) was the main factor and fertilization was the sub factor. The main treatments were: B0 (control without biochar), B1-5 t ha−1, B2-10 t ha−1 and B3-15 t ha−1. Fertilization sublevels were F0) without fertilizer and F1) optimal dose of fertilizer. Weediness was determined by counting and measuring aboveground biomass. The treatments with the greatest effect on weediness were B3 and F1 in the winter wheat tillering stage. In the winter wheat ripening stage, treatment B3 obtained the highest weediness and F1 significantly reduced weed density. Biochar treatment B3 increased winter wheat yield by 77% in relation to the control. The application of biochar combined with fertilization affected the level of weediness depending on agroecological conditions, but with a significant increase in yield.
In temperate climate zones, long periods without rainfall or with excessive rainfall are common during sowing and the initial vegetation of a catch crop. These periods can result in poor emergence ...and/or low yields. The study aimed to determine the influence of the depth of furrow sowing of catch crops on the soil moisture in the immediate vicinity of the seeds sown (1), dynamics of germination and plant emergence (2), and the biomass yield (3). Three furrow sowing depths (4–5 cm FS-S, 6–7 cm FS-M, and 8–9 cm FS-D) were tested and compared with traditional sowing (TS) in the cultivation of field pea and spring vetch catch crops. High amounts of precipitation were stated in the study period, especially in years 2016 and 2017. Furrow sowing enabled placing seeds in soil layers characterized by higher moisture content than traditional sowing. The sowing method did not significantly affect the plant density in any of the three years of the study. Field pea turned out to be a more valuable species for cultivation in catch crops in conditions with excessive precipitation. This plant produced a significantly greater yield of above-ground dry matter and total biomass than spring vetch. The sowing method did not affect the yield of catch crop biomass in study conditions.
Enormous fossil fuel consumption and rising of CO2 exhaust gasses emission has serious influence on greenhouse effect and global climate warming. Nowadays rising fossil fuel prices are leading to an ...increasing of agricultural products value and awareness of energy efficiency importance. Soil tillage is the largest fuel energy consumer, so there is a need to conduct studies to innovate techniques which can lower fuel consumption. This study evaluates the effects of four different tillage treatments (CT - conventional, DH - disc harrowing, CH - chiselling, SS - subsoiling) on fuel consumption and wheel slippage. For this research a four-wheel drive tractor was aggregated with reversible plough, discs harrow and with subsoiler as tillage implements. The results indicated that fuel consumption was highest on CT and the lowest on DH treatment. CH treatment had the lowest wheel slippage percentage and average fuel consumption 19,7% higher than DH treatment in all three years of the study. Mean wheel slippage at CT, DH, CH, SS treatments was as follows: 17,54%; 21,47%; 8,64%; 23,56% respectfully. Wheel slippage at CT, CH and SS treatments was related to fuel consumption (as follows: 30,84 lha.sup.-1, 12,92 lha.sup.-1, 23,1 lha.sup.-1) and all systems were affected by tillage depth.
The paper presents the result of a triennial field experiment (2013‒15), aiming to determine the influence of irrigation, nitrogen fertilization, and cultivars, as well as their interactions on the ...yield and chemical properties of the soybean seeds. Four soybean cultivars (Lucija, Vita, Ika and Tena) of different maturity groups were investigate as a sub‐subplot factor (C). The main plot factor (A - irrigation) resulted in a statistically very significant (P≤0.01) seed yield in all three years, and it was found out by an analysis of variance. The subplot factor (B - nitrogen fertilization) had an impact on the grain yield depending on the research year, while sub‐subplot factor (C-cultivar) significantly affected all examined traits. The factor interactions and their significance varied by the research years. The seed yield achieved in 2013 (3883 kg ha-1) indicated a great importance of all factors’ interaction. The correlations between a seed yield and a protein and oil concentration were determined during the research.
The effect of different conservation soil tillage (CST) treatments and different level of nitrogen fertilization on Fusarium wheat grain infection on two locations are presented in this paper. The ...research was conducted on winter wheat with different soil tillage treatments: conventional tillage to 30 cm depth, subsoiling to 35-40 cm depth, chiselling up to 25 cm, disk-harrowing to 10-15 cm and no-tillage, without any tillage treatments and three different nitrogen rates (N1 - amount reduced by 30% of recommended; N2 - according to standard recommendation and N3 - amount increased by 30% of recommended). The occurrence of Fusarium species was determined in all the tested variants of tillage and fertilization treatments. The effect of reduced fertilization (N1) on Fusarium sp. grain infection in all tillage treatments was statistically lower in comparison with other (N2 and N3) nitrogen treatments. The lowest percentage of wheat grains infected with Fusarium sp. was recorded in conventional tillage on location Magadenovac and no tillage treatments on location Cacinci.
U radu je prikazan utjecaj različitih konzervacijskih sustava obrade tla i različitih razina gnojidbe dušikom na zarazu zrna pšenice vrstama Fusarium. Pokus je postavljen na dvije lokacije s pet sustava obrade tla: konvencionalna obrada s oranjem do 30 cm, podrivanje na dubinu 35-40 cm, rahljenje do 25 cm, tanjuranje na 10-15 cm i te direktna sjetva bez ikakve obrade tla, kao i s tri razine gnojidbe dušikom: N1- umanjena za 30% u odnosu na preporuku; N2 - prema preporuci i N3 - uvećana za 30% u odnosu na preporuku. Pojava zrna zaraženih vrstama Fusarium utvrđena je u svim istraživanih tretmana. Postotak zaraženih zrna vrstama Fusarium bio je statistički značajno niži na tretmanu gnojidbe N1 u odnosu na varijante gnojidbe N2 i N3. Najniži postotak zaraženih zrna pšenice zabilježen je kod konvencionalne obrade tla u Magadenovcu i no tillage tretmana u Čačincima.
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