Soil and water loss due to traditional intensive types of agricultural management is widespread and unsustainable in Croatian croplands. In order to mitigate the accelerated land degradation, we studied different cropland soil management strategies to obtain feasible and sustainable agro-technical practices. A rainfall simulation experiment was conducted at 58 mm h–1 over 30 min on 10 paired plots (0.785 m2), bare and straw covered (2 t ha−1). The experiment was carried out in maize cultivation (Blagorodovac, Croatia) established on Stagnosols on slopes. Measurements were conducted during April (bare soil, after seeding), May (five-leaves stage), and June (intensive vegetative growth) making 60 rainfall simulations in total. Straw reduced soil and water losses significantly. The highest water, sediment loss, and sediment concentrations were identified in tillage plots during May. Straw addition resulted in delayed ponding (for 7%, 63%, and 50% during April, May and June, respectively) and runoff generation (for 37%, 32%, and 18% during April, May and June, respectively). Compared with the straw-mulched plot, tillage and bare soil increased water loss by 349%. Maize development reduced the difference between bare and straw-mulched plots. During May and June, bare plots increase water loss by 92% and 95%, respectively. The straw mulch reduced raindrop kinetic energy and sediment detachment from 9, 6, and 5 magnitude orders in April, May, and June, respectively. Overall, the straw mulch was revealed to be a highly efficient nature-based solution for soil conservation and maize cultivation protection.
Auteurs et éditeurs
Bogunović, IgorHrelja, IvaKisić, IvicaDugan, IvanKrevh, VedranDefterdarović, JasminaFilipović, VilimFilipović, LanaPereira, Paulo
Land (ISSN 2073-445X) is an international, scholarly, open access journal of land use and land management published quarterly online by MDPI.
MDPI AG, a publisher of open-access scientific journals, was spun off from the Molecular Diversity Preservation International organization. It was formally registered by Shu-Kun Lin and Dietrich Rordorf in May 2010 in Basel, Switzerland, and maintains editorial offices in China, Spain and Serbia. MDPI relies primarily on article processing charges to cover the costs of editorial quality control and production of articles. Over 280 universities and institutes have joined the MDPI Institutional Open Access Program; authors from these organizations pay reduced article processing charges.
Fournisseur de données
MDPI AG, a publisher of open-access scientific journals, was spun off from the Molecular Diversity Preservation International organization. It was formally registered by Shu-Kun Lin and Dietrich Rordorf in May 2010 in Basel, Switzerland, and maintains editorial offices in China, Spain and Serbia. MDPI relies primarily on article processing charges to cover the costs of editorial quality control and production of articles. Over 280 universities and institutes have joined the MDPI Institutional Open Access Program; authors from these organizations pay reduced article processing charges.