SOIL QUALITY IMPROVEMENT AND CLIMATE STRESS MITIGATION BY STUBBLE-MULCH TILLAGE

The Department of Soil Management of Szent Istvan University, Godollo has been involved in summer stubble cultivation experiments since 2005. During the experimental series, dry and rainy weather conditions were observed as well. The experiments comprised 12 alternative versions of cultivation. Throughout these experiments, the reconsideration and expansion of cultivation goals, and also the investigation of Central-European stubble cultivation methods were enabled. The effects of the applied stubble tillage methods on soil moisture, looseness, structure, and biological activity were also assessed. The surface cover besides the level of disturbing and surface preparation also influenced culture state. Establishing the optimum level of mulching by crop residues was also an important aspect of the investigations. Considering carbon loss, differences between stubble tillage methods have also been verified. The stubble tillage variants were ranked according to organic carbon protection by the measured carbon-dioxide emission converted into carbon quantity. Relying on the results, we came to the conclusion that the previously known effects of summer stubble treatment processes were supplemented by climate stress mitigation, carbon and organic matter protection. Mostly those cultivation methods meet the protecting requirements mentioned above that are characterized by (i) a shallow (6-8 cm) structure-protect disturbing, (ii) closed surface, and (iii) mulch cover.