Effect of Mulching on Soil Quality in an Agroforestry System Irrigated with Reused Water
Ágnes Kun,
Barbara Simon,
Mihály Zalai,
Ildikó Kolozsvári,
Csaba Bozán,
Mihály Jancsó,
János Tamás Körösparti,
Gergő Péter Kovács,
Csaba Gyuricza,
Beatrix Bakti
Affiliations
Ágnes Kun
Research Center for Irrigation and Water Management, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Anna-Liget Str. 35., H-5540 Szarvas, Hungary
Barbara Simon
Department of Soil Science, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Páter Károly Str. 1., H-2100 Godollo, Hungary
Mihály Zalai
Department of Integrated Plant Protection, Institute of Plant Protection, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Páter Károly Str. 1., H-2100 Godollo, Hungary
Ildikó Kolozsvári
Research Center for Irrigation and Water Management, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Anna-Liget Str. 35., H-5540 Szarvas, Hungary
Csaba Bozán
Research Center for Irrigation and Water Management, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Anna-Liget Str. 35., H-5540 Szarvas, Hungary
Mihály Jancsó
Research Center for Irrigation and Water Management, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Anna-Liget Str. 35., H-5540 Szarvas, Hungary
János Tamás Körösparti
Research Center for Irrigation and Water Management, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Anna-Liget Str. 35., H-5540 Szarvas, Hungary
Gergő Péter Kovács
Institute of Agronomy, Hungarian Agricultural and Life Science University, Páter Károly Str. 1., H-2100 Godollo, Hungary
Csaba Gyuricza
Institute of Agronomy, Hungarian Agricultural and Life Science University, Páter Károly Str. 1., H-2100 Godollo, Hungary
Beatrix Bakti
Department of Plantation Forestry, Forest Research Institute, University of Sopron, H-4150 Puspokladany, Hungary
In this study, a special rice-energy willow/poplar agroforestry system was used to analyze the effects of reused water irrigation and mulching on soil salinity, earthworm biomass and abundance, soil organic matter (SOM) content and weed coverage in treerow-dependent habitats. After three-year-irrigation, we investigated the woody line (WL), the buffer zone (BZ) and the crop line habitats (CL). Between 2019 and 2021, we collected data on the distribution of soil-specific electrical conductivity (EC), ammonium-lactate soluble sodium (AL-Na) and exchangeable cations (Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+) and soil NO2− + NO3−-N contents from CL habitats irrigated with effluent water from an intensive catfish farm. Based on our results, significantly greater earthworm abundance (274 pc m−2) and earthworm biomass (54.0 g m−2) values were measured in WL than in BZ or CL habitats. There was no significant difference in weed coverage between the CL (0.61%) and BZ (1.91%), but weeds were significantly denser on the WL (12.3%). In the third year, the EC, AL-Na and ESP values were lower, but the SOM was higher in mulched soil (183.1 mS cm−1, 253.1 mg kg−1, 4.4 ESP% and 4.597%, respectively) than in un-mulched soil.
