engleski

Experiences in soil conservation tillage systems

Soil protection systems are gaining increasing attention worldwide, which is in line with the expansion of their application. Traditional tillage systems (ploughing or mouldboard) are criticized, not because of tradition, but for their adverse effect on the soil. The application of environmental-friendly soil management principles seems to be more important than ever before. The next goal is proper management of water contained in soil, whereby the amount of stored water must exceed the amount of water loss. The aim of this paper is to recall the results obtained from different soil conservation tillage systems in Hungary. Five systems – no-till (NT), ridge- till (RT), strip-till (ST), mulch-till-tine (MTT), mulch-till-subsoiling (MTS) – were evaluated by ten indicators in order to assess their adaptability to the site’s agroecological conditions. Data were obtained from soil tillage experiments (NT, RT, MTT and MTS) and soil condition monitoring (MTT, MTS, ST and CC). Data analysis shows that the application of conservation tillage is expanding, considering the importance of alleviation of extreme weather. NT may be applied in larger areas, combined with other conservation solutions. RT may be used on small farms on sloped terrains. The application of ST is expected to increase for wide-row crop production. MTT is most useful for effectual surface protection. The necessity of MTS has often been proved in alleviation of climate- induced soil settlement, mainly in deeper soil layers.

no-till ; ridge-till ; strip-till ; mulch-till ; adaptability

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