Assessing soil quality changes after 10 years of agricultural activities in eastern Hungary^*

Abstract

In Hungary, soil plays a fundamental role in agricultural production. The main aim of this research was to track the spatial-temporal variations in certain soil properties (soil organic carbon [So], pH, NO 3 À , P, K, Mn, Zn and Cu) between 2000 and 2010 in 55 different farms in the eastern part of Hungary (Hajdú-Bihar region). Soil data were collected from the Soil Conservation Information and Monitoring System. After 10 years of agricultural activities results reveal that the means of pH, So, NO 3 À , and Zn were higher in 2010 than in 2000. Indeed, of nine studied soil characteristics only two (So%, NO 3 À ) showed a significant change according to the Wilcoxon T-test. The average pH_H 2 O increased by 0.13 and reached 7.31 ± 0.12 in 2010. The average NO 3 À (ppm) increased by 4.75 ppm and reached 19.9 ppm in 2010. For other soil nutrients, available P, K and Mg decreased slightly, while Mn decreased from 269 ± 25 ppm to 236 ± 21 ppm in 2010. Interestingly, Zn and Cu showed no change between 2000 and 2010. However, the inverse distance weighting (IDW) showed that the central part of the study area is more prone to changes due to intensive agricultural activities. The output of this research could assist decision makers when making soil conservation plans within the study area.

Combination of Limited Meteorological Data for Predicting Reference Crop Evapotranspiration Using Artificial Neural Network Method

“…Agricultural activities, especially maize production, are the main economic activity in the study area [48,49]. Thus, modelling and reduction of ET is a vital issue for sustainably of agribusiness, taking into consideration the sensitivity of maize to water deficit and drought events.…”

“…The study area is located in the eastern part of Hungary (Hajdú-Bihar County), between 47.5 • N and 21.5 • E (Figure 1) [48]. In this part of Hungary, the climate is classified as a continental one with a hot summer and a cold rainy winter [49]. The total sunshine hours are 2000 h y −1 , with 810 h in summer and 175-180 h in winter.…”

Spatial Analysis and Extent of Soil Erosion Risk Using the Rusle Approach in the Swat River Basin, Eastern Hindukush

“…It also offers a diverse range of ecological services, like water puri cation, carbon sequestration, cultural and esthetic values, nature conservation, landscape design, and urban development (Baveye et al 2016;Nkonya et al 2016). Human welfare relies on the contributions of soils, which yield a stream of goods and services crucial to our well-being (Tahat et al 2020;Takacs et al 2021). Despite offering important environmental amenities land and soil, have often been ignored, leading to an underestimation of their true value (Von Braun et al 2013).…”

Novel Approach for Statistical Interpretation: A Case Study from Long-Term Crop Production Experiments (Hungary)

“…Globally, the agricultural sector is under immense pressure due to rapid population expansion, urbanization, and climate change [1]. Despite the malfunction of the agricultural sector in many parts of the world due to land degradation [2,3], extreme climate events [4,5], and plant diseases [6]; this sector has to feed more than 9 billion by 2050 and 12 billion by 2100 [7][8][9][10]. Thus, rapid technological interventions and innovations were implemented in the agricultural sector to fulfil global food security and to overcome production obstacles.…”