Csaba Gyuricza

Seasonal changes of hydraulic properties of a Chromic Luvisol under different soil management

In the present work the effect of five tillage methods on the hydraulic properties and water regime of a brown forest soil was studied. In each treatment, measurements of bulk density and soil water retention characteristics were carried out 3 times (March, June and August) within the vegetation period. Near-saturated hydraulic conductivity and soil water content measurements were performed five and eight times, respectively. Statistically valuable differences were obtained between the soil properties, measured in different tillage treatments. The effect of the tillage treatments on the water retention curves was significant in the low suction range (pF < 2.0) only. Differences between the soil water retention curves, measured at the end of the vegetation period reflected the indirect effect of different tillage systems on soil hydraulic properties. The seasonal variability of both the soil hydraulic functions was proofed. Saturated hydraulic conductivity values, evaluated in the ploughing treatment at the beginning and end of the vegetation period differed up to 4-times. The near-saturated hydraulic conductivity values measured in March were nearly two times higher in all the treatments, except no till, than those, measured in August. The applied tillage systems did not influence the potential amount of water available for the plant; still, valuable differences between the soil water contents were measured. According to the soil hydraulic properties and measured soil water regime, ploughing and deep loosening created the most favourable soil conditions for the plants. The biological activity, however, was the highest in the no till treatment. Further studies on the application of the soil conserving tillage systems under Hungarian conditions are recommended.

Effect of Soil Physical State on the Earthworms in Hungary

Hungarian authors have long been discussing the role of earthworms in improving soil productivity. Earthworm counts in our higher quality soils are similar to those found in soils where more attention is paid to earthworm activity. Negative impacts that are independent of farming—such as sustained dry spells in the summer—also affect earthworm counts. Negative impacts that definitely depend on farming include land use causing soil moisture loss, deep stubble treatment leaving the soil without cover, and ploughing in the summer without subsequent pressing. The climate change is having both positive and negative impacts. Weather patterns are causing losses but adopting climate mitigating tillage are generating benefits. In the trials results so far show that tillage focusing on preserving soil moisture, structure, and organic materials, covering the surface in the critical months as well as adequate soil loosening are fundamental pre-requisites for making the soil a favourable habitat for earthworms.

Investigation of green manuring plants as secondary crop improving unfavourable field conditions to efficient food production

Introduction During green manure application the relatively fast growing and huge yielding biomass providing plants are produced so as to get the green parts applied back into the soil by rotation (plowing) or by shallow mixing (e.g. by disc harrow or cultivator). Westsik (1965) studied green manure application of different pulses. Nevertheless there are numerous other plants involved in production for the above purpose, for example mustard, oil radish, phacelia, buckwheat, purple clover, forage radish, sweet clover, and different ration of mixture of the above plants. Production of these plants can be as a mainor as a secondary crop. The main seeding is not widely applied either in Hungary or abroad (Kahnt 1986), in Hungary there are backgrounds existing for the production of the second seeded green manure plants (Gyarfas, 1953). The green parts applied into the soil improve the physical and biological conditions and the nutrient state of the soil, contribute to increase of organic matter, protect the surface from windand water erosion. Due to the intense root development they also have a biological loosening effect in the soil decreasing this way the chance for formation of a compacted layer. Being produced the above plants as a secondary crop they reduce leaching of nutrients, mainly in very wet years. Primarily they take up nitrogen in huge amount, this way it can be utilized by the following plant directly (Birkas et al. 2002; Hansen and Djurhuus, 1997; Jamriska 2002; Sainju and Singh 1997). Some green manure plants can also be utilized to create a more diverse animal feeding. In this case specific parts of the green manure plants are chopped and fed by animals in fresh condition or as silage.

Evaluation and comparison of open source program solutions for automatic seed counting on digital images

ImageJ, CellProfiler, P-TRAP and SmartGrain evaluated for seed counting from digital images.ImageJ seed counting macro evaluated with RenyiEntropy threshold.Results differ, firstly by image-analysis program and secondly by crop species.CellProfiler and P-TRAP showed suitable performance for seed counting.Benchmark showed lowest time required by SmartGrain and longest by P-TRAP. Seed number quantification is an essential agronomic parameter conducted mostly manually or by mechanical counters, both with obvious limitations. Digital image analysis provides a reliable and robust alternative to accurately calculate many biological features. This study presents and evaluates the performance of four open-source image-analysis programs i.e. ImageJ, CellProfiler, P-TRAP and SmartGrain to count crop seeds from digital images captured by camera and scanner. It also evaluates ImageJ program for automated seed counting using macro containing RenyiEntropy threshold algorithm. Digital images of cereal crop seeds were acquired i.e. wheat, barley, maize, rye, oat, sorghum, triticale and rice. All images contained 200 seeds per image present in an area of approx. 1400cm2. RenyiEntropy threshold increased the seed count accuracy of ImageJ from digital camera images. Generally, seed counts from digital camera images of all crops were accurate, but software-crop combination had significant (p<0.05) difference from reference value. Among image analysis programs, ImageJ produced mostly higher seed count across all observed crops than other programs. Mean seed counts from scanned images of maize were observed only by CellProfiler and P-TRAP, with other programs inappropriate due to high inaccuracy. These results suggest CellProfiler as a reliable image analysis program for seed counting from digital images. Benchmark test was also performed to compare speed of analysis. The automated seed count produced by image analysis programs described here allows faster, reliable and reproducible analysis, compared to standard manual method. To our knowledge this is the first study on using CellProfiler program for crop seed counting from digital images.

Short-term effects of extensive fertilization on community composition and carbon uptake in a Pannonian loess grassland.

Among the most extended ecosystems of the temperate zone, the seminatural, dry grasslands constitute a substantial proportion in the Carpathian Basin. The aim of our present study was to investigate the short-term effect of extensive fertilization on the species composition and CO2 exchange of loess grassland at community level. The in situ investigation of the latter parameter have not been yet carried out in Pannonian loess grasslands. Most of the parameters studied showed a considerable interannual variation both in the fertilized and in the control stands. As a result of the treatment, the average species number of the fertilized stand decreased by 22%, which was more significant in the autumn (26%) than in the spring. Diversity values, including Shannon index and species richness, increased by nearly 1.5 times in the year with adequate rainfall compared with the initial values. In general, species richness and the ratio of dicots decreased, while the ratio of therophytes, alien competitors, and C4 plants increased with the addition of fertilizers. Significant carbon sequestration potential was only detected during wet periods in the fertilized grass. The rate of CO2 uptake was found to be nearly five times higher in the fertilized stand and nearly three times higher in the control stand during the wet year compared with the previous, extremely dry year. The CO2 uptake potential of the fertilized grassland exceeded that of the control stand by 12% in the year with high rainfall, while the rate of CO2 exchange dropped by 50% in the dry year in the fertilized stand. Our study reinforced the idea that the decline in species richness was not necessarily followed by the reduction of stand level carbon uptake in a short period due to an insignificant change in ecophysiological functional groups.

The effect of conservation tillage systems on sustainability of soil biological state of sandy loam soil in corn monoculture

Introduction Conservation tillage, which involves the maintenance of crop residues on the soil surface, enhances soil conservation (Buchele et al., 1955) and controls soil erosion effectively (Romkens et al., 1973). Conservation tillage is an “umbrella” term encompassing several tillage systems including no tillage and ridge tillage (Mannering et al., 1983). Ridge tillage is a row-crop production system with the aim of soil protection and cultivation (Stone et al., 1989; Lal, 1990). Birkas et al. (2004) noted that the earthworm density declined with the intensity of tillage. However, surface and subsurface soil density and penetration resistance may increase naturally when using a no-tillage system (Birkas et al., 1998, 2004). These increases result from raindrop impact, soil particle distribution and structural failure. With no-tillage, natural increases in soil bulk density and penetration resistance usually are limited to the upper 0.15 m of the soil profile (Unger et al., 1998). The objective of this study was to determine effects of different tillage systems on sustainability of soil biological state in a long-term experiment under a semi-humid climate in Austria.

Soil condition threats in two seasons of extreme weather conditions

This research started from the observation that soil state defects that occur in a season may result in even more serious after-effects in the following year. The objective of this study was to investigate the striking forms of dete rioration in a Chernozem soil that occurred both in the surface and in the deeper layer. In one respect, dust formation, crumb reduction, surface silting, and surface crusting were studied, and an attempt to investigate additional consequences of the dust sedimentation to the nearest compacted layer was made. The degree of the soil deteriora tion was compared under treatments of bare and covered surfaces and in degraded and preserved soil conditions setting in the selected parts of a long-term trial. Surface cover significantly influenced soil vulnerability resulting in different responses of soil attributes. The surface crust reducing effects of a higher (≥ 55%) surface cover ratio and a lower proportion of dust could statistically be proven (P < 0.001). A favourable rate of surface cover reliably reduced the ratio of clods produced by primary tillage in dry (0.138–0.158 g/g) soil. The results indicate that it is possible to complete methods adaptable to the climate threats mitigation.

Wetland habitats of the Kis-Sárrét 1860–2008 (Körös-Maros National Park, Hungary)

The manuscript presents maps of internationally important wetlands located in the Kis-Sárrét (Hungary) from 1860 to 2008. The study area is located in south-east Hungary, in the Körös-Maros National Park and covers 8048 ha. For the historic map review, we used digitized data of topographic maps from the period of two military surveys and the Second World War. We also made habitat maps of the area in 2007 and 2008. Data processing, and the establishment of a database of the mapped area, was made using QuantumGIS 1.7.0 and Esri ArcView GIS 3.2. Maps were produced using Esri ArcGIS 10.0 and show where and in what ratio the once extensive wetlands occurred, how they changed and in which part of the area they survived in different mapping periods. They provide a point of reference for the monitoring of wetlands, contributing to the long-term conservation of these valuable habitats. Maps and diagrams show that between 1860 and 1944 wetland extent decreased by half. The ratio of natural, ‘purely’ wet habitats reaches only 4.67% now. Wetlands typically occur in habitat complexes, therefore not ‘purely’ wet habitats (20.77%) also have to be taken into account. Considering this, and a recent habitat reconstruction, the extent of wetlands is more favourable today than it was in 1944. However, to sustain them requires care and well-planned management to which the maps presented here provide an important basis.

Másodvetésű zöld trágyanövények biomassza tömegének és tápanyagtartalmának vizsgálata kedvezőtlen adottságú termőhelyen@@@Examination of the biomass and nutrient content of green manure crops as second crops under unfavorable field conditions

Osszefoglalas A Szent Istvan Egyetem Novenytermesztesi es Biomassza-hasznositasi Bemutato Kozpontjaban Godollőn kedvezőtlen termőhelyi korulmenyek kozott rozsdabarna erdőtalajon 2007–2009 evekben harom masodvetesű zoldtragyanoveny (facelia, mustar, olajretek) fejlődeset, illetve beltartalmi parametereinek alakulasat vizsgaltuk ket tapanyagdozis (0 kg/ha N, 50 kg/ha N) fuggvenyeben. A kis mennyisegű 50 kg/ha nitrogen hatoanyag mindharom novenynel tobbszorosere novelte a biomasszat – harom ev atlagaban facelianal 3,11-szeresere, mustarnal 3,09-szeresere, olajreteknel 2,78-szeresere. A szarazanyag novekedese valamivel elmaradt a zoldtomeg-novekedes merteke mogott, mert nitrogen kiegeszites hatasara a zoldtragyanovenyek viztartalma is novekedett. Egy kilogramm nitrogen hatoanyag facelianal harom ev atlagaban hektaronkent 455,9 kg-mal novelte a zoldtomeget es 31,8 kg-mal a szaraztomeget. Mustarnal a zoldtomeg-novekedes 377,9 kg, a szaraztomeg-novekedes 43,5 kg volt. Olajreteknel a zoldtomeg 342,9 kg-mal a szar...

Long-term soil tillage effects on selected physical and biological parameters

Introduction The use of conventional tillage systems applying a mouldboard-plough on poorly drained soils has resulted in a gradual deterioration of soil structure. Conservation tillage, which involves the maintenance of crop residues on the soil surface, controls soil erosion effectively (Langdale et al., 1979) and enhances soil water conservation (Mielke et al., 1986). However, adaptation of conservation tillage for maize (Zea mays L.) production on poorly drained soils is limited because it often results in yields lower than for maize grown under conventional tillage (Dick and Van Doren, 1985). Ridge tillage is a row-crop production system with the aim of soil protection and cultivation. Ridge tillage is characterized by permanent row-interrow configuration where the row is elevated 12 to 20 or 22 cm above the interrow throughout most of the year (Birkas et al., 1998). The soil is left undisturbed from harvest to planting except for strips up to one third of the row width. Planting is completed on the ridge and usually involves the removal of the top of the ridge. Residue is left on the surface between ridges. The method had no precedence in the literature of the Central-European Region. The first publication in this topic was written by Birkas et al. (1998) in Hungary, which shows the results of soil condition analysis and yield in the ridge tillage trial set in Godolli, 1995. The objective of this study was to determine effects of different tillage systems on some soil quality parameters, e.g. pore size distribution, soil temperature and earthworm activity in a long-term experiment under a semi-humid climate in Austria.