Projects / Programmes
Reducing of draught stress and increasing of soil fertility by introducing conservation (conservation) soil tillage into sustainable agriculture
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 4.03.03 |
Biotechnical sciences |
Plant production |
Water, rural space, environment |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| B006 |
Biomedical sciences |
Agronomics |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 4.01 |
Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences |
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries |
conservation tillage, rotarion, organic matter,grassland management, carbon sequestration
Researchers (28)
Organisations (3)
Abstract
Agricultural production in the open depends on the weather and the impact of climate change. Agricultural soils (fields, grasslands) are in many cases in Slovenia inadequately supplied and processed due to the use of heavy mechanization and narrow mating and poor structures. Agricultural plants that grow on poorly fitted soil are less resistant and more susceptible to the impact of climate change (heat stress, disease, resistance ...). Agricultural land with a dominant production function, with proper care, enables mitigation of climate change through the binding of carbon into the organic substance into the soil, which is one of the important items of the new European climate policy research policy.
The carbon sequestration process depends on pedoclimatic factors, and much can be contributed by the proper management of the soil (pasture load, ring, fertilization, etc.). Higher humus content in the soil has a positive effect on the physico-chemical properties, as it increases the ability of the soil to retain soil moisture and nutrients, prevents rinsing, and thus directly affects the fertility of the soil, the reduction of the arid stress of the plants and the reduction of pollution of the underground and surface waters. arid stress of plants and reduction of pollution of underground and surface waters.
Corresponding fertilization, as a rule, also increases the carbon content of the organic matter of the soil. Due to the general reduction in the carbon footprint of agricultural production, as much mineral fertilizers as possible should be replaced by livestock. When using the latter, maximally reduce the emissions of nitrogen into the environment. In Slovenia, about 13,500 tons of nitrogen per year is lost from the stables, fertilizers and manure fertilization. The possibilities for reducing losses are therefore considerable.
Praper soil tillage with no plowing makes an important contribution to the release of greenhouse gases, as well as the biological, chemical and physical properties of the soil. On the contrary, due to the plowing in the atmosphere, additional amounts of CO2 are released from the process of increased microbiological degradation of the organic matter (humus), and its content is less for decades, without the addition of organic fertilizers and the return of plant residues in many Slovenian fields.
The change of soil tillage (on both fields and grassland) in non‐specific climatic conditions ensures environmentally friendly farming, which ensure constant food production and the agricultural raw materials to the food processing industry.
In order to increase the competitiveness of Slovenian agriculture in the future uncertain climate conditions, the sustainable use of production potentials and healthy rural development, it is crucial to properly manage (not only tillage) agricultural land.
In Slovenia, grasslands occupy 60 % of agricultural land, or very roughly 15 % of the territory of Slovenia. In general, it is known that grassland represents a great potential for the C sequestration in soils, which means a huge potential for reducing the CO2 (greenhouse gas) content in the atmosphere. On the other hand, net C sequestration means more soil organic matters, leading to improving the physico chemical properties of the soil and increasing grassland resistance against drought. In scientific society, there are different, sometimes even conflicting views on the impacts of grassland management on the soil C sequestration. Due to the complexity of the problem, the European commission set up an Eip focus group 'Grazing for Carbon, which tries to identify professional and scientific problems in this field and gives recommendations for work on the global and local levels. Following the recommendations and following problems in grassland management in Slovenia, the objectives of the work in proposed project CRP are as follows:
• To study and analyze all world's knowledge (scientific literature) on the
Significance for science
Soil carbon sequestration in soil organic matter is one of the most important research priorities in the fields of agriculture and ecology at the EU level, which is also evidenced by the establishment of the EIP focus group ‘Grazing for carbon’ by the European commission. To address the knowledge gaps about the best way to manage grasslands for C across the different environments in Europe and about the mechanisms behind practices and the solutions, a number of research needs from practice have been identified by the focus group. In the proposed project, the obtained results will very enrich the knowledge about the impacts of grassland management on the C sequestration in soil organic matter will be of the utmost importance both for the farming, as for mitigating climate change.
We expect the target research project will confirm or reject the following hypotheses with their results, which also have a wider significance for the development of science.
1) The modified soil tillage cumulatively (in triennial studies) does not cause a statistically significant reduction in yields for different conservation methods of soil:
2) The quality of the crop is a reflection of the complexity of different factor not only the way of soil tillage, so we do not expect proof directly.
3) The impact of different soil tillage method on the organic matter in the soil is possible to proof in the series for several years. To connect, since the phenomenon is long lasting to the soil type, however, in the "direct mammal" treatment, "humus" is expected to be higher than in conventional plowing. On the contrary, if the straw is taken off from the fields and returned to fields in the form of farm manure. Our pervious analyzes show that Slovenian fields are mainly rich in humus.
4) Direct CO2 emission measurements associated with the intensity of soil mixing at the depth of intervention in the soil, therefore, the maximum value is expected for soil treatment with a plough within the first 24 hours, followed by the grubber tillage, while the smallest values ??is expected for direct seeding.
5) An extremely important part of the research is the assessment of economic performance, energy efficiency and ecological footprint in different soil treatment systems, where we expect that the conservation methods of farming have a significantly smaller environmental footprint in a better economic outcome.
Significance for the country
The influence of management on the soil C sequestration in grassland and cropland soils is highly relevant from the point of view of farming because of the drought resistance of grasslands and from the reducing the content of greenhouse gas CO2 in the atmosphere. Summer droughts can seriously affect the n Slovenian livestock production, which is the most important sector of the agricultural economy. Grasslands represent about 60 % of agricultural land in Slovenia. Therefore, increasing the content of organic matter in the soil reduces the risk of the drought on two-thirds of the agricultural land. If we are for example able to sequester additional 3 kg of C per year per ha of grassland, it would annually represent approximately 1000 tons of C in Slovenia, which means approximately 2000 tons of CO2 less in the air. This, of course, already represents a contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
The system of conservation soil tillage encourage the concern for the constant coverage of the soil surface and a varied rotation. Thus, under precarious climatic conditions, we can ensure the production of large quantities of food and a stable and high-quality raw material for the processing industry. Due to the robustness and resilience of the conservation agriculture system to the change in precipitation and temperature patterns, we expect more competitiveness of Slovenian agriculture, sustainable use of production potentials and rural faster development.
Perspective, sustainable, cost-effective practices and tools have a significant impact on the management of fields and grasslands, as they promote and ensure greater carbon footprint (humus) in the soil, which affects the higher retention capacity of soil for water and nutrients. Due to changed practices, minor rinsing of nutrients in underground and surface waters is also expected, which also affects the wider living space and not only agricultural.
The carbon balance and the proper use of organic fertilizers are also important in the wider European and global light, and in this way conservation treatment contributes to and contributes to mitigating climate change
Most important scientific results
Annual report
2018,
2019,
2020
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Annual report
2018,
2019,
2020
