Enzymatic Activity of Loess Soil in Organic and Conventional Farming Systems

Cezary A. Kwiatkowski, Elżbieta Harasim, Beata Feledyn-Szewczyk and Jacek Antonkiewicz
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Cezary A. Kwiatkowski: Department of Herbology and Plant Cultivation Techniques, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
Elżbieta Harasim: Department of Herbology and Plant Cultivation Techniques, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
Beata Feledyn-Szewczyk: Department of Agrosystems and Economics of Crop Production, Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation—State Research Institute, Czartoryskich 8, 24-100 Puławy, Poland
Jacek Antonkiewicz: Department of Agricultural and Environmental Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Mickiewicza 21, 31-120 Kraków, Poland

Agriculture, 2020, vol. 10, issue 4, 1-14

Abstract: This study was conducted over the period 2017–2019 in Czes?awice (central Lublin region, Poland). The aim of the present study was to compare chemical soil quality parameters (soil pH, available P and K, organic carbon, and total nitrogen content) and soil enzymatic activity (dehydrogenase, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, urease, protease) in organic and conventional farming systems. The experimental design included two crop rotations (organic and conventional) in which identical plant species were grown: sugar beet-spring barley-red clover-winter wheat-oats. The loess soil on which the experiment was conducted was characterized by the grain size distribution of silt loam, and this soil was categorized as good wheat soil complex (soil class II). The experiment was set up as a split-plot design in triplicate in plots with an area of 40 m 2 . Soil sampling was carried out using a soil auger within an area of 0.20 m 2 (from the 0 to 20 cm layer) in each plot during the autumn period. Over the 3-year study period, it was found that the organic system contributed to an increased soil content of organic carbon and total nitrogen. Moreover, a significantly higher soil pH value and a favorable narrow C/N ratio were found under the organic system (regardless of the crop species). Under the conventional system, in turn, a higher soil phosphorus and potassium content was observed. Enzymatic tests of the soil in the five-field crop rotation proved significantly higher activity of all the enzymes studied (in particular that of dehydrogenase, protease, and urease) in the organic system relative to the conventional one, regardless of the crop plant. Among the plants grown in crop rotation, sugar beet, and red clover had the most beneficial effect on the activity of the soil enzymes, followed by oats (especially under the organic system). The activity of the studied enzymes in the organic system was positively correlated (statistically significantly) with favorable soil pH, a higher content of organic C, and total N, and C/N ratio.

Keywords: crop rotation; organic system; conventional system; soil chemical properties; soil enzymatic activity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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