engleski

Erosion risk as indicator of sustainability of land management in four field crop rotation : maize - soybean - winter wheat - oil rape in agroecological conditions of Central Croatia

On soils of high erosion risk, acceptable tillage practices harmonised with a concept of sustainable land management are a most efficiently one for a efficiency soil conservation, that is, reduce erosion risk in crop growing, protect the environment, at the same time sustaining or increasing the attained yields and production. Erosion risk and erosional drift quantity was recorded during the four-year investigation period (1994-1998) on stagnosol, albic, in the Daruvar area (central Croatia), under common agricultural crops grown in six tillage variants, usual in arable farming of this area. A disastrous erosion risk and the highest soil loss in all years was recorded in the check - standard variant according to USLE (black fallow – tilled, unsown soil, without any vegetation cover). Soil loss in this variant was several times higher than soil loss tolerance (T values), estimated at 10 t/ha/yr. In conventional up/down the slope tillage, erosion risk were extreme and erosional drifts higher than tolerance if spring crops were grown, but not in the case of winter wheat and oil rape. In the no-tillage variant, erosion risk was extreme, erosional drift quantity was twice higher than T in maize growing (1994/95), but high erosion risk and erosional drift quantity slightly higher than tolerance in soybean growing (1995/96). Insignificant erosion risk and insignificant erosion was in winter wheat (1996/97) and oil rape growing (1997/98). All variants involving ploughing across the slope, i.e. conventional ploughing; very deep ploughing; and subsoiling + conventional ploughing rendered satisfactory efficiency for soil conservation in the growing of all studied crops (with the exception of maize in the very deep ploughing variant). Since erosion did not surpass the tolerant soil loss threshold in these tillage practices, their application is recommended for the general practice. Following results of investigation, Erosion risk can be used as reliable indicator of sustainable land management.

sustainable land management; crop sequence; soil loss tolerant

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