Lajos Blaskó

Changes in physical properties of sandy soil after long-term compost treatment

Abstract Studying the long-term effect of composted sewage sludge application on chemical, physical and biological properties of soil, an experiment was established in 2003 at the Research Institute of Nyíregyháza in Hungary. The applied compost was prepared from sewage sludge (40%), straw (25%), bentonite (5%) and rhyolite (30%). The compost was ploughed into the 0-25 cm soil layer every 3rd year in the following amounts: 0, 9, 18 and 27 Mg ha−1 of dry matter. As expected, the compost application improved the structure of sandy soil, which is related with an increase in the organic matter content of soil. The infiltration into soil was improved significantly, reducing the water erosion under simulated high intensity rainfall. The soil compaction level was reduced in the first year after compost re-treatment. In accordance with the decrease in bulk density, the air permeability of soil increased tendentially. However, in the second year the positive effects of compost application were observed only in the plots treated with the highest compost dose because of quick degradation of the organic matter. According to the results, the sewage sludge compost seems to be an effective soil improving material for acidic sandy soils, but the beneficial effect of application lasts only for two years.

Evaluation of sweet sorghum lines from the point of view of bioethanol and cellulose production

Oil rape is a valuable fodder because in early spring and late autumn it produces green forage used for the nutrition of domestic animals. It has been replacing sunflower and soy in colder and wetter regions. It is additionally advantageous because it leaves behind more nitrogen in soil, which is beneficial to other plants in plant rotation. There are some possible ways for the fixation of nitrogen in soil and they are as follows: by the means of oil rape straw ; by relatively long roots ; by the action of nitrogen bacteria, which perform the nitrogen synthesis within their root system, which is the case in some leguminous plants. Oil seed rape is expected to be wider used in crop rotation of West and Middle Europe, Croatia included. Due to this various sorts have been introduced and potential positive impacts have been studied in order to boost the process. This paper presents information on barley and wheat yield in case when they were sown after oil seed rape and corn. The aim of the research is to determine the presence of positive impacts upon the soil with special attention paid to a potential increase of nitrogen content after oil seed rape was grown. The preceding crops had statistically significant effect. Rape yield was significantly higher compared to the one with corn as preceding crops. Very similar results were obtained in 2007.The maize hybrids seed from three different FAO groups (FAO 400, FAO 500 and FAO 600) in four fractions (KO, KP, SO and SP) produced in two climatically different years (extremely dry 2000 and extremely wet 2001) had been different in quality and chemical composition. The effects of year, genetic specifity and seed fraction at the kernel mass, chemical composition (starch, proteins, cellulose, oil and moisture content) and seed vigour have been evaluated. The influence of agroecological conditions during two production years have been exposed at seed chemical composition and vigour indicators (cold test – CT and bulk seed electrical conductivity - EC). The genetic specificity and seed fraction had significant influence at all tested indices, with the exception of the influence of the fraction at the starch content

Possibilities of sweet sorghum production for ethanol on the Hungarian plain

Oil rape is a valuable fodder because in early spring and late autumn it produces green forage used for the nutrition of domestic animals. It has been replacing sunflower and soy in colder and wetter regions. It is additionally advantageous because it leaves behind more nitrogen in soil, which is beneficial to other plants in plant rotation. There are some possible ways for the fixation of nitrogen in soil and they are as follows: by the means of oil rape straw ; by relatively long roots ; by the action of nitrogen bacteria, which perform the nitrogen synthesis within their root system, which is the case in some leguminous plants. Oil seed rape is expected to be wider used in crop rotation of West and Middle Europe, Croatia included. Due to this various sorts have been introduced and potential positive impacts have been studied in order to boost the process. This paper presents information on barley and wheat yield in case when they were sown after oil seed rape and corn. The aim of the research is to determine the presence of positive impacts upon the soil with special attention paid to a potential increase of nitrogen content after oil seed rape was grown. The preceding crops had statistically significant effect. Rape yield was significantly higher compared to the one with corn as preceding crops. Very similar results were obtained in 2007.The maize hybrids seed from three different FAO groups (FAO 400, FAO 500 and FAO 600) in four fractions (KO, KP, SO and SP) produced in two climatically different years (extremely dry 2000 and extremely wet 2001) had been different in quality and chemical composition. The effects of year, genetic specifity and seed fraction at the kernel mass, chemical composition (starch, proteins, cellulose, oil and moisture content) and seed vigour have been evaluated. The influence of agroecological conditions during two production years have been exposed at seed chemical composition and vigour indicators (cold test – CT and bulk seed electrical conductivity - EC). The genetic specificity and seed fraction had significant influence at all tested indices, with the exception of the influence of the fraction at the starch content

Sustainable land use and amelioration of salt affected soils

Introduction A soil data base for sustainable land use was published by Varallyay (1992). According to the soil survey (Szabolcs, 1971; Szabolcs and Varallyay, 1978; Varallyay et al., 1979, 1980, 1992) the salt affected soil cover in Hungary is about 1 million ha. Salt affected soils (SAS) with structural B-horizon (meadow solonetz soils) represent the most wide spread group of SAS in Hungary. Most of them are located in the Trans Tisza Region. The practice of reclamation of SAS is more than two centuries old. In spite of this long history the revaluation of the research and the practical results is important from the viewpoint of sustainability because of the changing economical and ecological situation. Sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals:--environmental health, economic profitability, social and economic equity. For meeting the demands of ecological and economical points of sustainability of amelioration among others the following questions must be answered: What is the main tendency of natural soil forming processes? What is the degree of the soil quality changes for shorter and longer term after amelioration? What are the most suitable cultivated crops on improved SAS?

Acidification of a meadow chernozem (Luvic Pheozem) soil in the trans-Tisza region

Soil acidity is common in all regions where the soils developed on parent materials with low base content and/or the amount of precipitation is high enough to leach appreciable amounts of bases from the surface layers. Since the 1970s more and more data indicated that soil acidification is not confined only to the soils on wet areas which were developed on acidic parent material (Sipos-Patocs, 1975; Debreczeni, 1994). After leaching the CaCOj the acid load of soil is buffered by the exchangeable cations. The neutral, slightly acidic soils are especially sensitive to acidification. On slightly acid soil the same acid load caused much bigger pH decrease than on a strongly acid one (Zsigrai, 1995).

Spatial decision support for crop structure adjustment – a case study for selection of potential areas for sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) production

One option for adaptation to climate change is to grow a wider variety of plant species. Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is known to tolerate unfavourable environmental conditions, so it may be feasible to grow it on areas with extreme conditions to replace other species such as maize. Nowadays, spatial decision supporting systems primarily support the crop production process rather than crop structure adjustment. In this study, potential sorghum production sites in the Great Hungarian Plain were selected based on soil characteristics including genetic soil type, parent material, physical soil type, clay composition, water management, pH, organic matter content, topsoil thickness and fertility, as well as climatic data, particularly precipitation. For all the parameters the aim was to find the extreme values at which sorghum, which is less sensitive than maize, may still give an acceptable yield. By combining map layers of soil characteristics, it could be concluded that although the soil is suitable for sorghum on 40.46% of the Great Hungarian Plain, maize is generally a better choice economically. On the other hand, the soil conditions on 0.65% of the land are still suitable for sorghum but unfavourable for maize. As regards the precipitation demand of sorghum, May is the critical period; on 698,968 ha the precipitation required for germination was only recorded once in the period 1991-2010, so these areas cannot be considererd for sorghum. As a consequence, in an alternative crop rotation system sorghum could be competitive with maize, but both the soil and climate conditions and the demands of the crop need to be assessed. The lack of precipitation in critical phenophases significantly decreases the area where maize can survive. Sorghum, however, may produce an acceptable yield, as it is a drought-resistant species.

Effect of a Long-Term Compost Treatment on the Water Management of Sandy Soil

Background: The large part of sandy soils in Hungary has unfavorable water management properties. Studies have shown that the sewage sludge compost, due to its high organic content, is suitable for improving structure and water management of these soils. The aim of our study was to determine the effects of the application of sewage sludge compost on physical properties of sandy soil. Materials and Methods: The experiment was established in 2003 at the Research Institute of Nyíregyháza of the University of Debrecen in Hungary to study the utilization of sewage sludge compost in agriculture. In this study, however, the changes of water retention and erodibility of soil were measured for three periods. The soil type of the experiment is Arenosol (Dystric Lamellic Arenosol). The applied compost contained sewage sludge of 40%, straw of 25%, bentonite of 5% and rhyolite of 30%. The compost is applied every 3 year in the following amounts: 0, 9, 18 and 27 Mg ha of dry matter. Results: The compost treatment had a beneficial effect on soil structure thereby reducing the runoff and sediment loss under high intensity rainfall (130 mm h). However, in the control plot there was significantly higher water erosion. The water retention of soil was slightly increased after compost application. Conclusions: The compost application improved the water management properties of sandy soil, which is connected with organic matter addition into soil. The compost treatment had a beneficial effect on soil structure thereby reducing the runoff and sediment loss.

Baking quality and CHNS-contents of winter wheat varieties

Oil rape is a valuable fodder because in early spring and late autumn it produces green forage used for the nutrition of domestic animals. It has been replacing sunflower and soy in colder and wetter regions. It is additionally advantageous because it leaves behind more nitrogen in soil, which is beneficial to other plants in plant rotation. There are some possible ways for the fixation of nitrogen in soil and they are as follows: by the means of oil rape straw ; by relatively long roots ; by the action of nitrogen bacteria, which perform the nitrogen synthesis within their root system, which is the case in some leguminous plants. Oil seed rape is expected to be wider used in crop rotation of West and Middle Europe, Croatia included. Due to this various sorts have been introduced and potential positive impacts have been studied in order to boost the process. This paper presents information on barley and wheat yield in case when they were sown after oil seed rape and corn. The aim of the research is to determine the presence of positive impacts upon the soil with special attention paid to a potential increase of nitrogen content after oil seed rape was grown. The preceding crops had statistically significant effect. Rape yield was significantly higher compared to the one with corn as preceding crops. Very similar results were obtained in 2007.The maize hybrids seed from three different FAO groups (FAO 400, FAO 500 and FAO 600) in four fractions (KO, KP, SO and SP) produced in two climatically different years (extremely dry 2000 and extremely wet 2001) had been different in quality and chemical composition. The effects of year, genetic specifity and seed fraction at the kernel mass, chemical composition (starch, proteins, cellulose, oil and moisture content) and seed vigour have been evaluated. The influence of agroecological conditions during two production years have been exposed at seed chemical composition and vigour indicators (cold test – CT and bulk seed electrical conductivity - EC). The genetic specificity and seed fraction had significant influence at all tested indices, with the exception of the influence of the fraction at the starch content