Multi-cropping systems play an important role in improving the quality of soil properties. A field experiment was carried at the Experimental Station of Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy (Lithuania) in 2017 to 2019. The aim of the study was to compare agrophysical and biological properties of the soil in the multi-cropping systems of sole (spring barley, spring wheat, pea, caraway), binary (spring barley–caraway, spring wheat–caraway, pea–caraway) and trinary (spring barley–caraway–white clover, spring wheat–caraway–white clover, pea–caraway–white clover) crops. In the second and the third years of caraway cultivation, when solely caraway was grown, the total nitrogen content was significantly lower than in binary and trinary crops (8.5% and 17.4%, respectively). The results indicated that the highest organic carbon content was in the third year of caraway cultivation in trinary crop when caraway was grown with peas and white clover. In the third year, the highest saccharase and urease activity was found in trinary crop where caraway was grown with spring barley and white clover. A strong positive correlation was observed between the content of saccharase and urease and the total nitrogen, organic carbon, and potassium available in the soil. The results of the study suggest that multi-cropping is important for soil conservation and the sustainability of agro-ecosystems.

The field experiment was carried out at the Experimental Station of Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy (Lithuania) in 2017–2019. The aim of the study was to determine and to compare weed spread and caraway crop productivity in sole (spring barley, spring wheat, pea, caraway), binary (spring barley-caraway, spring wheat-caraway, pea-caraway) and trinary (spring barley-caraway-white clover, spring wheat-caraway-white clover, pea-caraway-white clover) crops. In the second and the third years of caraway cultivation, it was estimated that the abundance of perennial weeds in the crops increased. In the first year, significantly the highest dry matter mass of weeds was determined in non-sprayed with herbicides binary crops with undersown caraway and in trinary crops with undersown caraway and clover; in the second year—in the caraway binary crops, when they were grown after barley and wheat without clover; in the third year—in caraway binary and trinary crops when they were grown after barley, wheat and pea without clover and after barley and wheat with clover. In the second year, the highest yields of caraway seeds were obtained by growing them in peas, and in the third year by growing them in wheat together with clover. Caraway can be grown in trinary crops, including white clover, and harvested in the second or the third year of the vegetative season.

This vegetative experiment was carried out at the greenhouse of Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy Open Access Joint Research Centre of Agriculture and Forestry (Lithuania) in 2020–2021. The aim of these studies was to determine the effect of different nitrogen rates on the productivity and nutritional quality of forage grasses (a mixture of red clover and timothy) under the most common extremes of climate change, i.e., soil moisture deficiency and surplus. Under drought and waterlogging stresses, fertilization of the red clover and timothy mixture with high N rates was ineffective. The clover and timothy mixture recovery after drought took 21 days. The aboveground dry biomass of the clover and timothy mixture grown under drought conditions was significantly lower by 36.3 to 47.2% compared to that formed under optimum soil moisture and waterlogging conditions. The root biomass of forage grass mixtures was lowest under drought conditions when fertilized at the highest N rate (N25+120). The aboveground biomass of clover grown under different soil moisture conditions depended on the number of plants (r2 = 0.78, p < 0.01) and assimilating leaf area (r2 = 0.83, p < 0.01), and that of timothy on the number of vegetative tillers (r2 = 0.46, p < 0.05). Under drought simulation conditions, increasing the N rate increased the crude protein and crude fibre contents in the aboveground biomass of the clover and timothy mixture, while the crude ash content decreased.

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