IMPACT OF MAIZE, HEMP AND FABA BEAN INTERCROPPING ON THE SOIL PROPERTIES

The goal of the majority of bioenergy producers is to grow as much crop biomass as possible in the shortest possible time. However according to the requirements of the Green Deal in 2023-2027 during the period, the consumption of fertilizers and plant protection products will have to be significantly reduced. In order to fulfil all the necessary conditions for biomass production, a stationary field experiment was started in 2020 at the Experimental Station of Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania. Cultivations of maize, technical hemp and faba bean have been investigated as single, binary and ternary crops. The purpose of this study is to find out the influence of crop biodiversity level on soil structural composition, stability, soil pH and the concentration of soil macroelements. Contrary to expectations, during vegetative seasons 2020 and 2021, at low (totally N 45, P 45, K 45 kg ha(-1)) fertilization level, the increase of crop biodiversity increased the amount of nitrogen in the soil. However, the levels of phosphorus and potassium decreased. Unlike expected, the volume of macro-aggregates in the soil increased in the maize and hemp single-crops. Still, the amount of micro-structure decreased higher in the ternary-crop. The structural stability of the soil depended mostly on the meteorological conditions during experiment. These findings suggest continuing investigations in the conditions of higher-level fertilization.