The State of the Soil Organic Matter and Nutrients in the Long-Term Field Experiments with Application of Organic and Mineral Fertilizers in Different Soil-Climate Conditions in the View of Expecting Climate Change

Abstract

Soil organic matter (SOM) plays an important role in the terrestrial ecosystems and agroecosystems. Changes in the agricultural sector in the countries of the Central and Eastern Europe (the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, etc.) within the past 25 years have negatively affected the SOM and contributed to the soil degradation. The aim of this chapter is the evaluation of the long-term application of mineral fertilizers and farmyard manure: the Control (without fertilization), farmyard manure (FYM + 0), FYM accompanied with NPK (FYM + N 3 PK), and FYM with mineral nitrogen FYM + N (FYM + N 2), on the essential chemical properties of the soil and yield of the fundamental arable crops in the long-term field experiments, established in different soil and climate conditions (black soils, brown soils, cambisols, altitude ranging from 260 to 650 m a.s.l.) of the Czech Republic in 1955, using the modern multi-criteria statistical methods (PCA, FA, CLU, etc.). The longterm and regular application of organic manure and organic manure with mineral fertilizers (FYM + N 3 PK and FYM + N 2) optimize the soil characteristics, stabilize crop and feedstuff production, and increase the adaptation potential of the soil in the Czech Republic, which is supposed to be weakened due to the expected changes of the environmental conditions in the near future.

Legacy effects override soil properties for CO2 and N2O but not CH4 emissions following digestate application to soil

“…This agrees with other studies (e.g. Menšík, Hlisnikovský, & Kunzová, 2019) that have also shown that SOM content can increase following the application of manure and, overall, the use of organic amendments such as FYM or GM may improve the availability of nutrients and soil properties (Hargreaves & Warman, 2008). This change to the edaphic environment likely had consequences for the microbial communities present, changing their structure and thus impacting on soil functions and their interactions with the applied digestate.…”

Soil organic matter content and crop yield

“…SOM content is intricately interlinked with other physical, chemical, and biological properties and processes. A long-term study in eastern Europe (the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland) indicated that regular applications of organic manure and of manure plus chemical fertilizers optimized soil quality, stabilized crop yield, and enhanced adaptation to climate change (Menšík et al 2019).…”

Water Erosion Reduction Using Different Soil Tillage Approaches for Maize (Zea mays L.) in the Czech Republic

“…Low precipitation in July and August 2018 together with high air temperatures affected JEV as well as the Central Bohemian Highlands (SKO) and led to early harvesting [72]. Regularly recurring dry periods during the growing season, which are recorded in the last decade not only in the Czech Republic but also in Europe, may significantly affect primary production in the future [16,17]. Table 1.…”

“…As a result of global warming, a decline in crop yields has been recorded [8][9][10][11]. These changes are also confirmed by model studies, which predict that potential production of food and feedstuff, including maize, will be further reduced in the future [12][13][14][15][16][17]. It is expected that European countries will not be as affected as other parts of the world [18].…”