Reclamation on Land Disturbed by Surface Mining in Romania

Within the Oltenia surface mining region of Romania, 14,890 ha have been disturbed and only 1,002 ha have been reclaimed. The majority of this disturbance has involved agricultural land (12,208 ha), of which only a small amount has been reclaimed (552 ha). Forest land disturbed by surface mining in this region amounted to 2,682 ha, of which only 450 ha have been reclaimed. Therefore, huge land areas remain unreclaimed. Two experiments for the recultivation of sterile dumps were conducted: one without fertile soil covering on Garla dump and another one on Cicani dump which was covered by 30-40 cm of fertile soil. The study took into account 10 crops: Lolium perenne, alfalfa, Lotus corniculatus, winter wheat, maize, soybean, pea, mixture of barley or oats with a leguminous plant, sunflower, and sorghum. Three fertilization levels were applied: N0P0K0, N100P80K60, and N200P160K120. Yield gains obtained in the case of fertilization with N100P80K60 on the Garla non-covered sterile dumps were 48% Lolium perenne, 22% alfalfa, 200% winter wheat, 300% maize, 50% soyabean, 80% pea, 122% mixture of barley or oats with a leguminous plant, 60% sunflower, and 164% sorghum. Higher yield gains were obtained with N200P160K120 on the Garla non-covered sterile dumps (74% Lolium perenn, 37% alfalfa, 46% Lotus corniculatus, 264% winter wheat, 366% maize, 75% soyabean, 150% pea, 146% mixture of barley or oats with leguminous plant, 180% sunflower and 252% sorghum). The yield gains obtained on the Cicani dump which was covered with 30-40 cm of fertile soil with N100P80K60 were 60% Lolium perenne, 30% alfalfa, 19% Lotus corniculatus, 171% winter wheat, 550% maize, 50% soyabean, 58% pea, 117% mixture of barley or oats with a leguminous plant, 83% sunflower, and 118% sorghum. High yield gains were obtained by applying high rates of fertilizers on the Cicani dump. The highest yield gains were obtained for maize, sorghum, sunflower, winter wheat, pea, and mixture of barley or oats with a leguminous plant, and the lowest yield gains were obtained for alfalfa and Lotus corniculatus. In both cases, the first crops do not change their order, the best results being obtained with the mixture of barley or oats with a leguminous plant, alfalfa, Lotus corniculatus, winter wheat, and maize. In all cases, the highest yield was obtained when the highest fertlization rate was applied. Additional