Balandaitė, J.; Kimbirauskienė, R.; Sinkevičienė, A.; Marcinkevičienė, A.; Švereikaitė, A.; Ginelevičius, U.; Romaneckas, K. Changes of Soil Aggregation and Biochemical Properties in Continuously Multicropped Cultivations. Preprints2024, 2024061961. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202406.1961.v1
APA Style
Balandaitė, J., Kimbirauskienė, R., Sinkevičienė, A., Marcinkevičienė, A., Švereikaitė, A., Ginelevičius, U., & Romaneckas, K. (2024). Changes of Soil Aggregation and Biochemical Properties in Continuously Multicropped Cultivations. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202406.1961.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Balandaitė, J., Ugnius Ginelevičius and Kęstutis Romaneckas. 2024 "Changes of Soil Aggregation and Biochemical Properties in Continuously Multicropped Cultivations" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202406.1961.v1
Abstract
Plant biomass could become a new world-class "currency" because almost everything can be made of it: fuels, foods, feeds, constructing materials, furniture, etc. Currently, growing biomass for energy needs is particularly relevant in so complicated socioeconomical situation. There are important its productivity and the lowest possible ecological footprint. Can increasing crop biodiversity address these challenges? A field experiment was started at the Vytautas Magnus University Agricultural Academy in 2020-2022. Maize, hemp and faba bean were grown as single, binary and ternary crops to determine its effect on soil properties. Studies have shown that most intercrops failed to stabilize soil aggregate composition, NPK levels and pH, and enzyme urease activity. Binary maize-hemp and the ternary crops reduced the amount of the main macroelements in the soil the most because of the highest yields, which were removed from the fields. Regardless of the ecological services provided by faba beans, biomass removal leads to degradation of most soil properties and making the soil vulnerable to erosion. In the future, the cultivation of such multicrops should be investigated under conditions of more abundant fertilization or the effect of green manure should be used by increasing the number of fast- and short-growing interior plant species in the cultivation.
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