Impact of ecological and conventional farming systems on chemical and biological soil quality indices in a cold mountain climate in Slovakia

Abstract

There is a need to assess the impact of different farming methods on soil quality and fertility in specific ecoregions. Soil biochemical parameters and soil enzymatic activity appear very useful in monitoring soil pollution and management practices and can be used as indicators of sustainability. Soil chemical properties, biological properties and soil enzymatic activity (urease, acid and alkaline phosphatase) were investigated at six sites under ecological farming (no pesticides, organic fertilizers and crop rotation) and six sites under a conventional farming (pesticides and mineral fertilizers) system. A comparative study was performed during years 2008–2011 under production conditions in the investigated areas, situated in the marginal region of north-eastern Slovakia. Research showed that high doses of organic fertilizers had positive effect on soil productivity, and thus indirectly on maintaining soil pH and accumulation of humus in soil. The values of soil enzyme activities changed minimally during the research period. Statistically significant effect of experimental year and locality on all observed soil parameters was confirmed by analysis of variance. Large differences between the two sites were found in terms of microbiological properties, which are sensitive soil indicators of changes occurred under different farming systems. The study confirmed the positive influence and higher microbial activity indices of ecological farming (36% higher enzymatic activity, 65% higher soil respiration content, 60% higher soil microbial biomass carbon content) compared with conventional farming system.