Status of Essential Elements in Soil and Grain of Organically Produced Maize, Spelt, and Soybean

Vesna Dragicevic, Milovan Stoiljkovic, Milan Brankov, Miodrag Tolimir, Marijenka Tabaković, Margarita S. Dodevska and Milena Simić
Additional contact information
Vesna Dragicevic: Maize Research Institute “Zemun Polje”, 11185 Zemun Polje, Serbia
Milovan Stoiljkovic: Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, 11001 Belgrade, Serbia
Milan Brankov: Maize Research Institute “Zemun Polje”, 11185 Zemun Polje, Serbia
Miodrag Tolimir: Maize Research Institute “Zemun Polje”, 11185 Zemun Polje, Serbia
Marijenka Tabaković: Maize Research Institute “Zemun Polje”, 11185 Zemun Polje, Serbia
Margarita S. Dodevska: Centre for Hygiene and Human Ecology, Institute of Public Health of Serbia “Dr Milan Jovanović Batut”, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Milena Simić: Maize Research Institute “Zemun Polje”, 11185 Zemun Polje, Serbia

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 12, issue 5, 1-18

Abstract: Organic agriculture offers many benefits through the increased nutritional quality of produced crops, agro-ecosystem preservation, and climate change mitigation. The development of an efficient nutrient management strategy in low-input systems, such as organic agriculture, which supports soil fertility and essential nutrients absorption by crops, is continually exploring. Thus, a study with maize–spelt–soybean rotation during a 5-year period in organic production was established to evaluate the variability in soil organic matter (SOM) and the status of available elements: N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn, and Si from the soil, as well as grain yield (GY) and the content of protein, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn, and Si concentration in the grain of spelt, maize, and soybean. Significant variations in mineral elements in the soil, GY, and grain composition were detected. Spelt achieved the highest average GY, while soybean grain was the richest in a majority of examined nutrients. The soil Ca content was important for GY, while the protein level in grain was generally tied to the Mn level in the soil. It was recognized that soil–crop crosstalk is an important strategy for macro- and micro-nutrients management in the soil and grain of organically produced spelt, maize, and soybean. While a reduction in the GY and protein concentration in grain was present over time, it was established that a low-input system under dry-farming conditions supports nutrient availability and accumulation in grain, under semi-arid agro-ecological conditions of central Serbia.

Keywords: grain yield; mineral nutrients; organic fertilizers; protein status ingrain; soil organic matter; three crops rotation (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: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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