The effects of mineral and organic fertilization on the contents of Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, B and Mo in soil and in the soil solution as well as on availability of these elements for crops were investigated in the long-term field trial. The highest contents of Zn, Fe, Mn and Cu in soil and soil solution were observed in the treatment with the lowest pH (NPK). In this same combination the content of B and Mo was the lowest. The concentration of Zn, B and Fe in the soil solution significantly increased under farmyard manure application. Liming significantly decreased contents extractable by 1 mol/L HCl forms of Mn and Zn and significantly increase the content of Mo in the soil. Regardless of fertilization applied, microelement concentrations in the soil solution are sufficient for fulfilling nutritional needs of plants cultivated during the trial.

No abstract

The research aimed at the assessment of N 2 O emission from agricultural soils subject to different fertilization conditions. It was carried out on a long-term experiment field in Skierniewice in Central Poland maintained with no alterations since 1923 under rye monoculture. The treatments included mineral (CaNPK), mineral-organic (CaNPK + M) and organic (Ca + M) fertilization. Measurements were conducted during the growing periods of 2012 and 2013. N 2 O emissions from the soil were measured in situ by the means of infrared spectroscopy using a portable FTIR spectrometer Alpha. N 2 O fluxes over the measurement periods showed high variability with range 0.13-11.20 g N 2 O-N/ha/day (median 2.87, mean 3.16) from mineral treated soil, 0.23-11.06 g N 2 O-N/ha/day (median 3.64, mean 3.33) from mineral-organic treated soil and 0.25-12.28 g N 2 O-N/ha/day (median 3.14, mean 3.55) from organic treated soil. N 2 O fluxes from manure-treated soils were slightly higher than those from soils treated exclusively with mineral fertilizers. N 2 O fluxes were positively correlated with soil temperature, air temperature, and content of both, NO 3 -and NH 4 + , in the soil (0-25 cm) and, to a lesser degree, negatively correlated with soil moisture. Based on the measured N 2 O flux and its relationship with environmental factors it can be concluded that both, nitrification and denitrification the are important sources of N 2 O in mineral soils of Central Poland, where the average soil water-filled pore space during the growing period range from 22-35%. Under the climate, soil and fertilization conditions in Central Poland, the N 2 O emission from cultivated soils during the growing period is approximately estimated as 0.64-0.73 kg N/ha.

No abstract

In the paper, the results of the long-term field experiment on soil depletion from potassium on yields and selected indices of nitrogen use efficiency of maize and spring barley were presented. The factors of the experiment were potassium fertilization (K plus and K minus treatment) and increasing nitrogen rates. Maize responded for soil exhausting from K in yield reduction over all the range of nitrogen rates applied in the experiment, and spring barley only through the highest rates. The greater values of nitrogen use efficiency indices were proven for barley as compared with maize. Potassium fertilization slightly increased agronomic efficiency and physiological efficiency of barley.

Adjusting Polish law to EU standards, many studies were started in the 1990s on the harmfulness of presumably contaminating elements (PCE) to the environment and the quality of plants intended produced for food purposes. For this reason, in 1987, a unique microplate experiment was established on natural soils artificially contaminated with copper, zinc, lead and cadmium oxides (up to the pollution level of class I, II and III). The soils were diversified in terms of pH (through liming), organic matter content (through the addition of brown coal) and the grain size composition of the humus level (Ap) (strong clay sand and light silt clay). After 14 years from the introduction of different rates of metals into the top layer (0–30 cm) of the two soils studied, relatively large movement of heavy metals in the soil profile occurred. The amount of leached metals depended mainly on the rate of a given element. The more contaminated was the soil was, the heavier the metals that leached to lower genetic levels of soil. Contaminated soils always had a higher concentration of individual metals in Et than in Bt level. The content of the tested metals in the Et layer was determined in HCl (1 mol·dm−3) and compared to the humus level. Only at the soil depth below 50 cm (Bt), the content of the studied metals’ forms was much lower than in the surface levels. The calculated mobility coefficients of the tested metals determined in 1 M HCl indicate a larger movement of the tested metals in lighter soils than in medium soils. The highest displacement coefficients were obtained for cadmium, while the lowest were for lead. An increase in mobility was obtained alongside an increase in soil contamination with the heavy metals studied. By analyzing the mobility coefficients (heavy metal increase in the Bt and Et layers), they can be ranked in the following decreasing sequence: on light soils: Cd > Cu > Zn > Pb and on medium soils: Cd > Zn > Pb > Cu.

No abstract

The aim of the study was to determine plant needs with regard to sulphur fertilization based on the assessments of sulphur in the soil profile carried out in the early spring. The study was founded on the continuous fertilization experiment established in 1985 at the Experimental Station of the Faculty of Agriculture and Biology, Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW, which is located in Skierniewice. Soil samples were collected in the years 2009-2011 in the early spring (February/March) at low soil temperatures. The samples were taken at three soil depths: 0-30, 30-60, 60-90 cm. The content of sulfate sulphur was assessed in fresh soil samples after extraction in 0.01 mol/L CaCl 2 . The plants cultivated during the study were spring barley and yellow lupine. The amount of sulphur in soil profile was too small and not sufficient to fulfill yellow lupine nutritional needs, thus could be a limiting factor for successful yield production. Regardless the fertilizer treatment, the amount of sulfate sulphur found in 0-60 cm soil layer fully covered nutritional needs of spring barley.