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 socioeconomic differences.

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A stationary field experiment of a reduced soil tillage was implemented at a Hypogley (Hypogleyic soils A–Gso–Gr soil horizon sequence) soil type of Eastern Croatia during three seasons and set up as a split-plot randomized block design in four repetitions. The tillage systems (TS) were as follows: 1) conventional tillage, i.e., plowing at 30 cm (CT), 2) disking up 10-12 cm (DT), 3) soil loosening up to 35 cm (LT), 4) no-tillage (NT). The experiment was designed to compare the penetration resistance (PR), soil moisture (SM), and bulk density (BD) at different TSs and soil depths. A cone penetrometer was used to measure the PR with 10 prods per TS, accompanied with a measurement of SM with a soil auger on every 10 cm, with four samples up to a 40-cm depth. The BD was determined by metal cylinders on every 10 cm up to a 30-cm depth, being weighed and dried thereafter to obtain an absolutely dry sample, and then calculated using absolutely a dry soil sample mass (m_s) and the soil volume (V). The PR and SM were significantly influenced by the TS and soil depth. The CT had the significantly lowest PR at all depths, while the DT has manifested a significantly higher PR at a soil depth amounting to 10 to 20 cm. The PR on NT were significantly diverse from the CT at all soil depths. The BD varied significantly concerning the TS and the soil depth. Subsequent to the three years, the CT had a significantly smaller BD at a depth amounting from 0 to 10 cm, and a significantly higher BD at 20- to 30-cm depth, compared to reduce the TS.

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.

Soil organic matter plays a crucial role in soil health and represents one of the key functions for determining soil suitability for crop production. Recently, intensive agricultural production and climatic changes have led to a decline in organic matter level in soils. This paper is to provide the most accurate spatial predictor using different interpolation methods in order to evaluate in detail the status of organic matter in agricultural soils in the Osijek-Baranja County, Croatia. We applied three different interpolation methods, including inverse distance weighting, ordinary kriging and empirical Bayesian kriging. A total number of 9099 soil samples from 0-30 cm layer were compiled and analysed in the laboratory. The average value of soil organic matter in the study area was 2.66% with moderate variability (CV = 30.62%). The best fit variogram model is exponential in the direction of 20 and its spatial variability indicates that soil organic matter varies widely under pedogenetic and soil management practices. Empirical Bayesian kriging method was the most precise (RMSE = 0.457), followed by ordinary kriging (RMSE = 0.466) and inverse distance weighting (RMSE = 0.476). The investigated area shows a heterogeneous spatial pattern of soil organic matter content, with levels below 3% found mostly in western and southwestern parts of county.