Three-Year Investigation of Tillage Management on the Soil Physical Environment, Earthworm Populations and Crop Yields in Croatia

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the environmental suitability of conservation tillage systems. A 3-year experiment was conducted in Croatia, to study the effects of different tillage treatments on soil properties, with the following: deep (DC), shallow tine cultivation (SC) and ploughing (P). Soil penetration resistance (SPR) was significantly greater in P compared to DC in all three years. In 2016, it was found at 30–40 and 40–50 cm; in 2017 at 10–20 cm; in 2018 at 0–10 and 10–20 cm. However, SC was significantly greater at 20–30, 30–40 and 40–50 cm compared to P and DC in 2017. The greater surface coverage in DC and SC (>30%) as compared to P (<1%) provided significantly higher soil moisture content (SMC) in maize (2016) and soybean (2018). In 2017, SMC in SC was significantly lower than in P and DC. Regarding all the 3 years, the agronomic structure in DC and SC had significantly greater crumb ratio compared to P, whereas P had significantly higher dust ratio than DC and SC. Throughout the 15 measurements, DC provided the most favorable soil habitat (11 occasions out of 15). In 2017, the earthworm abundance was significantly higher in DC compared to SC. In all the three years, DC resulted the highest yield, however the difference was not significant. Higher surface coverage and SMC positively impacted the ratio of agronomic structure (decreased dust and increased crumb ratio) and earthworm abundance. It can be concluded that DC and SC provided greater soil coverage which positively affected SPR, SMC, agronomic structure and earthworm abundance as compared to P.

Straw Mulch Effect on Soil and Water Loss in Different Growth Phases of Maize Sown on Stagnosols in Croatia

“…Soil erosion in cropland under wide-row spring cultures such as maize is recurrent and considerable during intense rainfall events. The main factors responsible for the high sediment yields in continental Croatia are poor structural stability of the stagnosol under conventional agricultural management and the lack of vegetation cover under frequent and intense tillage, which are common in this region [15,56]. The absence of strong crop rotations and lack of cover crop prevalence of wide-row cash crops like maize, potato, sugar beet and soybean, together with the lack of farmyard manure application, increases the rate of erosion because these management practices result in greater sediment detachment in croplands [57].…”

Effects of Biochar and Cattle Manure under Different Tillage Management on Soil Properties and Crop Growth in Croatia

“…Conventional agriculture in continental European conditions, specifically the Pannonian region, produces food (second-most significant region regarding the share of agricultural land use in Europe but first in productivity) for international markets in croplands, for the most part, covered by bare soils due to frequent use of conventional practices, i.e., conventional tillage and herbicides [10,36,37]. Conservation agricultural practices are rarely applied and cover small areas.…”

“…Tillage has been a major cause of soil degradation since the first agricultural revolution [45]. Several researchers confirm the fact that conventional tillage with frequent invertive tillage operations leads to elevated soil compaction levels [9,15,36,37,46]. Such negative soil status reduces the longterm productivity of soils since it negatively influences the various physiological processes in soil and modifies soil properties such as organic matter or microbial properties [47].…”

Diachronic Mapping of Soil Organic Matter in Eastern Croatia Croplands

“…Farmers mostly use narrow crop rotation, favoring the cash crops over the grasses and legumes [53]. Simultaneously, despite the fact that crops need for tillage intervention, more than 90% of farmers perform conventional tillage [26], involving plowing at least once per year, negatively affecting the aggregate stability and oxidation of SOM. Other lands suffer from SOM depletion during performed amelioration activities.…”