engleski

Water erosion under different crops in Croatia

Soil erosion continues to be a primary cause for soil degradation and the loss of soil throughout the world. Our objectives were to quantify soil erosion (referred to as erosional drift) during the eleven-year investigation cycle (1995-2005) on Stagnic Luvisols, in central Croatia, under common agricultural crops grown in six tillage treatments. This paper presents the results relating to the total erosional drift, with special reference to the time of occurrence of erosional drifts per crop development stages of the crops grown - soybean (Glycine hyspida L.) and oil-seed rape (Brassica napus var. oleifera L.). The largest erosion in the 11-year period was recorded in the standard variant (black fallow). This was followed by the variant involving ploughing up and down the slope. Erosional drift was much smaller in no-tillage variant and treatments with ploughing across the slope. Much higher erosional drifts were recorded in the growing of spring crops (soybean) than in winter crops (oil-seed rape). Also, in the growing of crops, notably spring crops, erosional drifts were not evenly distributed during crop growing, quite the contrary. The period of seedbed preparation, or the period immediately after sowing spring crops, is the most critical period with the highest risk of erosion. In the growing of spring crops, this is the period when over 80% of the overall annual erosional drift occurs in all tillage treatments. In the growing of winter crops, crops of high density, no critical periods were observed. Summing up all the advantages and drawbacks of the studied tillage methods for a wide application in crop growing on this soil type, we recommend no-tillage and ploughing across the slope.

Water erosion; Soil loss; Tillage treatments; Croatia

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