Influence of 96 years of mineral and organic fertilization on selected soil properties: a case study from long-term field experiments in Skierniewice, central Poland

Abstract

Long-term agricultural experiments allow for the determination of the infl uence of agricultural practices on soil properties. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of 96-year-old fertilization (NPK mineral fertilization and farmyard manure (FYM) use) on selected physical and chemical soil properties. The research was carried out in an experimental fi eld in Skierniewice, central Poland, where the experiments have been conducted since 1923. Seven soil profi les (Retisols or Luvisols) were studied. Long-term fertilization caused various changes in the chemical properties of the studied soil (pH, the content of total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN) and total sulphur (TS); exchangeable acidity (EA), total potential acidity (hydrolytic acidity) (TPA), cation exchange capacity (CEC), the total exchangeable bases (TEB), base saturation (BS)). The effect of long-term fertilization is most evident in the topsoil (the Ap horizon). The NPK fertilization led to acidifi cation which was expressed by the decrease of soil pH (down to the value of 5.1), as well as the increase of EA, TPA, and exchangeable Al. Long-term high-dose FYM application (40 t and 60 t ha -1 per year) led to the stabilization of soil pH to a level of 6.2-6.5 throughout the soil profi le (down to 120 cm). The use of a combination of NPK fertilization and FYM application led to acidification of the topsoil similar to the soil in which NPK fertilizers were applied alone. Long-term FYM application led to the increase in TOC, TN, and TS concentrations in the Ap horizons of the studied soils. Long-term use of NPK fertilizers had no signifi cant effect on soil CEC, however long-term use of FYM increased the CEC in the Ap horizon of soils. An overall positive effect has been confi rmed in the use of high doses of FYM (40 t and 60 t ha -1 per year), which improves the chemical properties (soil pH, TOC, TN, and TS content, as well as CEC) of the soil compared to the control plot and plots with NPK fertilization alone. These fi ndings were confi rmed by PCCA analysis.

Influence of prolonged agrogenic transformation on soil structure and physicochemical properties of Ukrainian Albic Stagnic Luvisols: a case study from western Ukraine

“…Similar results were also obtained in the research of Hoang (2023) where it was shown that 96 years of use of mineral and organic fertilizers had a clear effect on the chemical and sorption properties of the soil. The effect of fertilization was best expressed in the top layer of the soil.…”

Luvisols and related clay-illuvial soils (<i>gleby płowe</i>) – soils of the year 2023. Current view of their origin, classification and services in Poland

“…Despite the knowledge on the morphology, properties and productivity of gleby płowe has grown substantially since their separation from Podzols, several questions related to their origin, classification, and services remain under discussion (Gus-Stolarczyk et al, 2023;Szymański et al, 2011Szymański et al, , 2017Woronko et al, 2022). The discrepancies between researchers and definitions result from extremely complicated origin and lithology of parent materials in glaciated areas (Komisarek, 2017;Musztyfaga and Kabała, 2016), long-term land use and secondary agricultural transformations (Marcinek and Komisarek, 2014;Viet, 2023), sometimes considered as soil degradation (Kozłowski et al, 2018;. The fact that the vast majority of gleby płowe exist now under cultivation and only a minority in the forest, their natural habitat (Duchaufour, 1951), does not support finding answers to many questions.…”