Crop management effect on chemical and biological properties of soil

This study was aimed at evaluating the effect of crop rotation and various tillage systems on the chemical and biological properties of soil in the years 2013-2015. The first order factor included cropping systems: a) crop rotation (pea - winter wheat - spring wheat) and b) monoculture of winter wheat, whereas the second order factor were tillage systems: 1) conventional (CT), 2) reduced (RT) and 3) No-tillage (NT). In the autumn season, in the CT system, shallow ploughing (at the depth of 10-12 cm) and pre-winter ploughing (25-30 cm) were applied for pea and spring wheat crops, whereas shallow ploughing and pre-sow ploughing (20-22 cm) were applied for winter wheat crop; in the RT system, only a cultivator was applied for spring wheat and pea crops as well as a cultivator and a tillage set for winter wheat; in the NT system glyphosate was applied on all plots as well as a cultivator and a tillage set were used before winter wheat sowing. The study demonstrated that the soil sampled from plots with crop rotation contained more organic C and available forms of P, K and Mg and that it was characterized by a higher activity of dehydrogenase, phosphatase and urease than the soil sampled from monoculture. In addition, it was characterized by a higher number of earthworms than the soil from monoculture. The RT and NT systems affected an increase in the contents of organic C and total N and in the enzymatic activity of soil, compared to the CT system.