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The Role and Significance of Soil Analyses in Plant Nutrition and Environmental Protection
3-8Views:80Hungary has a rich history of soil analyses and soil mapping. Our main tasks today are the preservation of soil fertility as well as balancing the goals of production and environmental protection. The main requirement of agricultural production is to adapt to ecological and economic conditions.
In a series of consultative meetings in the past seven years, representatives from Central and Eastern Europe have analyzed nutrient management practices in their respective countries. According to a joint memorandum agreed upon in 2000, in the countries awaiting accession, the quantity of nutrients used per hectare is considerably smaller than the Western-European usage targeted through special subsidies. The current low nutrient usage contradicts the principles of sustainability and that of the efficient use of resources, jeopardizing soil fertility.
In Hungary, the use of inorganic fertilizers underwent a dynamic development, which manifested itself in an almost tenfold usage growth between 1960 and 1985. This growth slowed down somewhat between 1985 and 1990 and then reduced dramatically after 1990, reaching record lows at the usage levels of the 60s. The nutrient supply has had a negative balance for the last 15 years.
The increasing and then decreasing usage trends can equally be detected in the domestic yield averages of wheat and corn as well as in the nutrient supply of soils. Yields were the largest when usage levels were the highest, and decreased thereafter. Draughts have also contributed to smaller yields. The dramatic decrease in the use of inorganic fertilizers when adequate organic fertilizers are lacking endangers our soils’ fertility.
About 50% of soils in Hungary are acidic. Acidity is mostly determined by soil formation, but especially on soils with a low buffering capacity, this acidity may intensify due to inorganic fertilizers. Sustainable agriculture requires the chemical improvement of acidic soils. According to their y1 values, the majority of our acidic soils need to be improved. This chemical soil remediation is required in 15% of the acidic soils, while it’s recommended for another 20% of these soils.
Results of the analyses conducted in the framework of the soil-monitoring system set up in Hungary in 1992 show that in 95% of the analyzed samples, the toxic element content is below the allowable limit. Cultivated areas are not contaminated; toxicity above the legal level was found only in specific high-risk sampling areas: in the vicinity of industry, due to local overload. The basic principle of sustainable agriculture is to preserve soil fertility without undue strain on the environment. The intensity of the production needs to be considered according to the conditions of the site; i.e.; nutrient management needs to be site-specific. It is recommended to differentiate three types of cultivated land in terms of environmental sensitivity: areas with favorable conditions, endangered areas, and protected areas, and then to adopt nutrient management practices accordingly. To meet all the above-mentioned goals is impossible without systematic soil analysis. Tests conducted by the national monitoring system cannot replace regular field measurements. -
Examination of the effects of the cropyear and the nutrient supply on the quality of winter wheat with the help of Győri’s Z-index
121-125Views:59In the case of winter wheat,the knowledge of several quality features is needed to be able to determine precisely the real quality of the given
wheat. Several systems have been worked out on the qualification of the winter wheat in Hungary and other countries as well. Evaluating the
quality is being made more difficult because the different quality features take part in the development of the quality in different degrees and
the values of the several quality features are in different intervals and these data are different dimension values. On the evidence of the
results, in the case of considering several features,it can be difficult to rank into one concrete quality cathegory. Researchers are trying to
develop complex quality index numbers in order to be able to define the quality more precisely. One of these complex quality index numbers
is Gyıri’s, so called, Z-index.
In three years from 2006 and 2008, we examined the change of the quality features of nine varieties of winter wheat with the help of the
Z-index under the influence of the effects of the different cropyears and the fertilizer treatment. The results show that the Z-index of the
examined varieties of winter wheat were influenced by several factors. Examining the data of the three different breeding years together we
can observe the corrective effect of the different cropyears on the Z-index, and if we examine the three years separately and together, the
differences of the quality features of the different varieties differentiate very well, and with the help of the Z-index the comparison of the
types is easier and perspicuous, and the Z-index represents the different nutrient reactions of the different types as well. On the average of
the three years, the types gave the best results at N120-150+PK nutrient level. Among the nine varieties the best results were given by Mv Suba,
GK Békés and Mv Mazurka in the case of both low and higher nutrient levels.