Maintaining good soil quality is crucial for the sustainability of agriculture. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the visual soil assessment (VSA) method by testing it on two soil types and two agricultural management practices (AMP) (organic and integrated) that are considered to protect soil quality. We selected two farms with plots on two river terraces with different soil properties. The test was based on the modified method Annual Crops Visual Quality Assessment developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and supported by a standardized soil physical and chemical analysis. This study showed that the assessed score is highly dependent on the type of farming practice and how soils are managed. The soil type also plays an important role. The results for Calcaric Fluvisol showed that the effects of selected agricultural management practices on the visual assessment of soil quality could be almost undetectable. The time of assessment also plays a significant role in VSA scoring. Different crops and agricultural activities with significant impacts on the soil occur throughout the year (especially in vegetable production). It was observed that a higher score for the soil cover indicator had a beneficial effect on the total VSA rating.
COBISS.SI-ID: 44509187
Hedge bindweed (Calystegia sepium L.) is a widespread troublesome perennial weed species that has strong rhizome regenerative capacity. Four pot trials with randomised, complete block designs were conducted in 2015 to evaluate long-term control of hedge bindweed using individual, tank mixture, and sequential applications of selected herbicides. Two different formulations of N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine (glyphosate; isopropylamine, trimesium salts) were applied at 2000 g active ingredient (a.i.) ha-1. Additionally, two synthetic auxins were applied as 3,6-dichloro-2-methoxybenzoic acid (dicamba) at 500 g a.i. ha-1 and the dimethylamine salt of (2,4 dichlorophenoxy)acetic acid (2,4-D) at 1000 g a.i. ha-1. Tank mixtures and sequential applications (12/24 h separation) of these different herbicides were also included. Long-term control of hedge bindweed, Calystegia sepium L., growth was evaluated 8 months after treatments, as comparisons of shoot and rhizome growth (biomass) between untreated and treated plants. There were no diferences between the two formulations of glyphosate alone, with shoot and rhizome biomass reductions of 83% and 42%, respectively. Dicamba alone inhibited shoot and rhizome biomass by 86% and 67%, respectively. By itself, 2,4-D provided the greatest reductions in shoot and rhizome biomasses, 93% and 79%, respectively. Antagonism was seen in the tank mixtures of glyphosate and dicamba or 2,4-D. Tank mixtures were generally comparable to treatments of glyphosate alone, and were less effective compared to dicamba or 2,4-D alone. The greatest reduction of bindweed rhizome biomass was for sequential glyphosate trimesium salt followed by 2,4-D 12 h later, thus showing significantly greater effiecacy over glyphosate isopropylamine salt (94% vs. 84%; p 0.05). These data for reductions of the growth of the rhizome biomass show that the sequential application of glyphosate followed by 2,4-D significantly improves long-term control of hedge bindweed.
COBISS.SI-ID: 25332483
Although there are numerous studies describing the positive influence of legumes as cereal pre-crops, little information exists on the specific crop rotation soybean–triticale. Besides that, fertilization of soybean is very complex due to its symbiosis with rhizobia where mineral nitrogen could have negative effect, therefore new soil conditioners, e.g. zeolite, need to be examined. An investigation in growing seasons 2017 and 2017/2018 was established to study these knowledge gaps in a combined field experiment, where soil mineral nitrogen (SMN) was also monitored. Firstly, the influence of soybean seed bacterial inoculation (inoculated and non-inoculated seeds) as factor 1, and four fertilization treatments (1—no fertilizer, 2—600 kg zeolite/ha, 3—30 kg mineral N/ha (at sowing)?+?additional 70–90 kg/ha of mineral N, and 4—combination of treatments 2 and 3) as factor 2 on soybean yield performance and nutritional composition was evaluated. Neither factor influenced soybean seed yield (average 3128 kg/ha). However, zeolite had favourable effect on root nodulation where the number of nodules and nodule dry mass per plant were significantly increased. Secondly, winter triticale was sown after soybean harvest on the same plots. Only 40 kg N was applied at BBCH 30 (beginning of stem elongation) to the whole experiment. Interaction of soybean experimental factors significantly influenced the triticale grain yield. Finally, regression analysis revealed that triticale grain yield (average 5537 kg/ha) was highly dependent (R2?=?0.927) on initial SMN content, left after soybean harvest.
COBISS.SI-ID: 9446521