Crop management effect on chemical and biological properties of soil

This study was aimed at evaluating the effect of crop rotation and various tillage systems onthe chemical and biological properties of soil in the years 2013-2015. The first order factorincluded cropping systems: a) crop rotation (pea – winter wheat – spring wheat) and b)monoculture of winter wheat, whereas the second order factor were tillage systems:1) conventional (CT), 2) reduced (RT) and 3) No-tillage (NT). In the autumn season, in the CTsystem, shallow ploughing (at the depth of 10–12 cm) and pre-winter ploughing (25–30 cm)were applied for pea and spring wheat crops, whereas shallow ploughing and pre-sow ploughing(20–22 cm) were applied for winter wheat crop; in the RT system, only a cultivator was appliedfor spring wheat and pea crops as well as a cultivator and a tillage set for winter wheat; in theNT system glyphosate was applied on all plots as well as a cultivator and a tillage set were usedbefore winter wheat sowing. The study demonstrated that the soil sampled from plots with croprotation contained more organic C and available forms of P, K and Mg and that it wascharacterized by a higher activity of dehydrogenase, phosphatase and urease than the soilsampled from monoculture. In addition, it was characterized by a higher number of earthwormsthan the soil from monoculture. The RT and NT systems affected an increase in the contents oforganic C and total N and in the enzymatic activity of soil, compared to the CT system.