Výskumný Ústav Pôdoznalectva a Ochrany Pôdy

The need for efficient use of local resources in agricultural production grows with the increasing demand for sustainable production. One of such sources are both above-ground (stubble) and underground (roots) plant residues left in the field after harvesting a crop. This study quantifies the share of nutrients (N, P, K) in plant residues after the harvest of four different oil crops (raps, sunflower, mustard, and soybean) in seven soil-climatically heterogeneous regions of Slovakia during the nine years. The results showed that the most residues in the soil were left by rape and mustard (more than 10 tons of dry biomass per hectare). After harvesting the sunflower, 5-10 tons of plant residues remained in the soil, and soybeans left the least residues (less than 5 t/ha). Based on these data and the analytically determined content of nutrients in plant residues, the coefficient of nutritional potential was calculated by polynomial regression, i.e. the amount of nutrients that remain after harvesting per ton of the main product. Using these coefficients and the known yield of the given crop, it is subsequently possible to calculate how many nutrients will leave each crop in the soil after harvest. The results showed that the amount of remaining nitrogen in plant residues ranges from 91 to 132 kg, phosphorus from 14 to 22 kg, and potassium from 72 to 218 kg per hectare. The above must be considered when calculating the need for fertilizers for the following crop, to reduce the risk of environmental pollution, especially regarding nitrogen.

Abstract Soils are the foundation of agricultural production, ecosystem functioning and human well‐being. Bridging soil knowledge gaps and improving the knowledge system is crucial to meet the growing EU soil policy ambitions in the face of climate change and the ongoing trend in soil degradation. The objective of this article is to assess the current state of knowledge, knowledge use and knowledge gaps concerning sustainable soil management in Europe. This study is based on interviews with 791 stakeholders and 254 researchers and on a comprehensive review of >1800 documents carried out under the European Joint Programme on agricultural soils. Despite differences in stakeholder groups, the conclusions are rather consistent and complementary. We identified major knowledge gaps with respect to (1) soil carbon stocks, (2) soil degradation and fertility and (3) strategies for improved soil management. Transcending these three areas, particularly the loss of soil organic carbon, peatland degradation and soil compaction, are most critical, thus, we stress the urgency of developing more models and monitoring programmes on soils. Stakeholders further report that insufficient transfer of existing soil research findings to practitioners is a hindrance to the adoption of sustainable soil management practices. In addition to knowledge production, soil knowledge gaps may be addressed by considering seven recommendations from the stakeholders: (1) raising awareness, (2) strengthening knowledge brokers, (3) improving relevance of research activities and resource allocation for land users, (4) peer‐to‐peer communication, (5) targeting advice and information, (6) improving knowledge access, and (7) providing incentives. We argue that filling and bridging knowledge gaps should be a priority for policymakers and the insights provided in the article may help prioritise research and dissemination needs enabling a transition to more sustainable soil management in Europe.

Promising mathematical and logical models for diagnosing the technical condition of the braking systems of highly automated vehicles, in order to detect and prevent the occurrence of faults in time, as well as to improve traffic safety are proposed.

The paper describes water quality in the Raszynka River based on selected chemical parameters dependent on different land use. The research was carried out in the Raszynka River catchment, characterized by a small surface area (75.9 km2) and length (17.14 km). The river is a right tributary of the Utrata River. It is located in the Piaseczno and Pruszkow districts in the Mazowieckie voivodship. The dominant type of land use in the basin is agricultural land. Water samples were collected from 2017 to 2019 from previously designated research points at similar distances along the river. Selected physicochemical indicators examined in the samples include total alkalinity, electrolytic conductivity (EC), pH, and chemical oxygen demand (COD). Moreover, the concentration of selected substances was determined, including nitrogen compounds: NO3− (nitrates) and NH4+ (ammonium), TP (total phosphorus), and Cl− (chlorides). The results showed that the values of some of the examined indicators do not meet the standards set for first-class surface water quality. Indicators significantly exceeding the limit included ammonium, chlorides, and pH. The highest concentration of chlorides, ammonium, and nitrate was found in urbanized areas. The highest concentrations of total phosphorus and COD were determined in agricultural areas and total alkalinity in meadows.

Crop rotation, fertilization and residue management affect the water balance and crop production and can lead to different sensitivities to climate change. To assess the impacts of climate change on crop rotations (CRs), the crop model ensemble (APSIM,AQUACROP, CROPSYST, DAISY, DSSAT, HERMES, MONICA) was used. The yields and water balance of two CRs with the same set of crops (winter wheat, silage maize, spring barley and winter rape) in a continuous transient run from 1961 to 2080 were simulated. CR1 was without cover crops and without manure application. Straw after the harvest was exported from the fields. CR2 included cover crops, manure application and crop residue retention left on field. Simulations were performed using two soil types (Chernozem, Cambisol) within three sites in the Czech Republic, which represent temperature and precipitation gradients for crops in Central Europe. For the description of future climatic conditions, seven climate scenarios were used. Six of them had increasing CO2 concentrations according RCP 8.5, one had no CO2 increase in the future. The output of an ensemble expected higher productivity by 0.82 t/ha/year and 2.04 t/ha/year for yields and aboveground biomass in the future (2051–2080). However, if the direct effect of a CO2 increase is not considered, the average yields for lowlands will be lower. Compared to CR1, CR2 showed higher average yields of 1.26 t/ha/year for current climatic conditions and 1.41 t/ha/year for future climatic conditions. For the majority of climate change scenarios, the crop model ensemble agrees on the projected yield increase in C3 crops in the future for CR2 but not for CR1. Higher agreement for future yield increases was found for Chernozem,while for Cambisol, lower yields under dry climate scenarios are expected. For silage maize, changes in simulated yields depend on locality. If the same hybrid will be used in the future, then yield reductions should be expected within lower altitudes. The results indicate the potential for higher biomass production from cover crops, but CR2 is associated with almost 120 mm higher evapotranspiration compared to that of CR1 over a 5-year cycle for lowland stations in the future, which in the case of the rainfed agriculture could affect the long-term soil water balance. This could affect groundwater replenishment, especially for locations with fine textured soils, although the findings of this study highlight the potential for the soil water-holding capacity to buffer against the adverse weather conditions.

Little is known about the suite of ecological conditions under which characteristic species may continue to develop under the pressure of recent habitat deterioration. We aimed to determine the niche of three indicator species of the priority habitat Pannonic salt steppes and to find out how their vegetation composition, land use, and soil chemistry mirror the current condition of their typical habitat. A plot-based vegetation survey was conducted in degraded and in pristine (reference) inland salt steppes in East-Central Europe. We confirmed decreased habitat quality at their northern geographical limit. Most of the sites there showed a strong prevalence of generalists (e.g., Elytrigia repens) and lack of specialists, both resulting from lowered habitat extremity and inappropriate land use (abandonment). A small proportion of plots (19%) were in the same good condition as the reference vegetation in the central area. Soil analyses revealed that the studied halophytes are able to persist on desalinized soils if the land use is suitable. The occurrence of the annual Camphorosma annua (Amaranthaceae) was driven largely by abiotic stress; grazing alone is insufficient for its long-term persistence, while the perennial Artemisia santonicum (Asteraceae) and Tripolium pannonicum (Asteraceae) have higher survival chances as they are able to coexist with generalists. Overall habitat quality can be reliably determined from the analyzed ecological conditions of indicator species. The outcomes of the presented work are relevant for conservation practice and can serve as a quick tool for assessing the current stage of other grassland habitats.

The main aim of soil monitoring system is to obtain the knowledge of the most current state and development of soil properties according to concrete threats to soil. To determine the significant changes of soil properties in time, it is important to know spatial variability of concrete soil parameter for concrete site. Only those time changes of the soil parameter are significant, which exceed its spatial variability at the site. The main aim of the study has been focused on the evaluation of small-scale site heterogeneity of equilibrium soil bulk density and the integration of impact of this heterogeneity in evaluation of degradation process of soil compaction in time. As site variation coefficients have considerably varied at standard sampling with five repetitions during monitoring period, one-time detail spatial variability mapping of soil bulk density was realized at 17 repetitions on five selected monitoring sites with different soil type, texture and use. This increase in the number of sampling points helped us to specify and stabilize the values of variation coefficients (between minimum and maximum by standard sampling) as well as the extent of confidence intervals. Standard deviations at the chosen monitoring sites moved from 0.039 to 0.118 g·cm-3 in topsoil and from 0.031 to 0.067 g·cm-3 in subsoil and expressed as variation coefficient 2.9% - 9.2% and 2.0% - 4.9%, respectively. The intervals of significant time changes of soil bulk density for the sites and depths were determined on the base of its site confidence interval (95%) and uncertainty rate of its measure methodology. The time changes of bulk density values between single year-to-year sampling were overlapped by this interval of significant changes to obtain significant bulk density changes in time. This method allowed us to distinguish significant time changes in soil bulk density from insignificant ones. The bulk density value changes on the monitoring sites were significant in the range of six to nine years within observed period 2002-2014 in both depths.

Water pollution, both surface and underground, by agricultural activity is a relatively serious problem. The pollutants are transported from the soil to the water. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the soil transport function on the basis of present knowledge of soil nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) transport and soil and local properties. The west Slovak lowlands, south Slovak basins and east Slovak highlands were selected due to their different climate and soil parameters. Soil nutrient transport was classified as (1) very weak, (2) weak, (3) moderate, (4) strong and (5) very strong. Accordingly, we defined the area of individual categories of soil transport function in agricultural soils in three observed areas in Slovakia. Thus we could determine the origin of the water pollution potential risk. Moreover, this is very important when it comes to observing of the Nitrate Directive as farmers can harmonise nitrogen and phosphorus fertilisation to soil categories. In the case of nitrogen, its transport is very dependent on soil nitrification intensity with nitrogen, and the most fertile soils (on Žitný ostrov) are very susceptible to water pollution. Almost 88% of agricultural soil in this area are in the strong and very strong nitrogen transport categories. On the other hand, only 2.1% of soils in hilly and cold landscapes (Ondavská vrchovina) feature water nitrogen pollution. Phosphorus transport is very strong on the hilly landscape with shallow soils (less than 0.30 m) and/or with gravel high content (Ondavská vrchovina). Especially in these locations, an increase of water body phosphorus content and thus a decrease in water quality (almost 50% of total agricultural soil area) is possible.

This paper presents an attempt to differentiate the Slovak rural landscape with respect to the possibility of effective potato cultivation and to characterise soil parameters of current potato cultivation areas with the aim to increase the sustainability of the potato production. The selection was based on soil climatic, production and economic parameters. By using the GIS tools and existing databases on soil characteristics in Slovakia, maps of soil suitability categories for potato cultivation were generated. In Slovakia, it was found that 12.3% of farmland is very suitable for potato cultivation and that as much as 43.1% is not suitable. Later, the specified categories were characterised in detail and specified with respect to geographic, soil, climatic, production and economic parameters. Currently, most potato crops are cultivated on Cambisols (27%), Chernozems (20%) and Fluvisols (18%). Loamy soils (content of particles <0.01 mm is 30–45%), soils without gravel (gravel content in the depth 0.0–0.6 m is <10%), deep soils (>0.6 m) and soil situated on plains (slope 0°–3°) are dominant in these regions. We suggest that potato cultivation should be concentrated on the most suitable areas, thereby increasing the economic profitability, improving the ecological stability of the country and supporting the sustainability of the agriculture.