Plant, Soil and Environment, 2020 (vol. 66), issue 3
The influence of catch crops on fungal diversity in the soil and health of oatOriginal Paper
Elżbieta Mielniczuk, Elżbieta Patkowska, Agnieszka Jamiołkowska
Plant Soil Environ., 2020, 66(3):99-104 | DOI: 10.17221/38/2020-PSE 
The aim of the research was to determine the quantitative and qualitative composition of soil-borne fungi in the cultivation of oat, as well as to assess the healthiness of this cereal. The experiment considered spring barley and potato as forecrops, and white mustard or lacy phacelia cultivated after spring barley as catch crops before oat. The population of fungi showing antagonistic effect towards selected fungi pathogenic to cereal was determined. The most fungi (pathogenic and antagonistic) were found in the soil under oat cultivation after spring barley, while the least after potato. The cultivation of oat after spring barley with the use of...
Microbial consortia inoculants stimulate early growth of maize depending on nitrogen and phosphorus supplyOriginal Paper
Klára Bradáčová, Ellen Kandeler, Nils Berger, Uwe Ludewig, Günter Neumann
Plant Soil Environ., 2020, 66(3):105-112 | DOI: 10.17221/382/2019-PSE
Adoption of microbial consortia as plant growth-promoting microorganisms (PGPMs) instead of single-strain inoculants is discussed as an approach to increase the efficiency and flexibility of PGPM-assisted production strategies. This study provides the functional characterisation of a commercial microbial consortia product (MCP) in a series of greenhouse experiments with maize on a silty-loam field soil (pH 5.9). A 60%-increased abundance of bacteria that could be cultivated after rhizosphere extraction was measured after MCP inoculation at the end of the 42-days culture period. MCP inoculation did not stimulate shoot biomass production of maize fertilised...
Soil and foliar zinc application to biofortify broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica L.): effects on the zinc concentration and bioavailabilityOriginal Paper
Angelica Rivera-Martin, Martin R. Broadley, Maria J. Poblaciones
Plant Soil Environ., 2020, 66(3):113-118 | DOI: 10.17221/14/2020-PSE
Agronomic zinc (Zn) biofortification of crops could help to alleviate dietary Zn deficiency, which is likely to affect more than one billion people worldwide. To evaluate the efficiency of agronomic Zn biofortification of broccoli, four application treatments were tested: no Zn application (control); soil application of 5 mg/kg ZnSO4.7 H2O (soil); two sprays (15 mL/pot each) of 0.25% (w/v) ZnSO4.7 H2O (foliar);...
Windbreaks as part of climate-smart landscapes reduce evapotranspiration in vineyards, Western Cape Province, South AfricaOriginal Paper
Maik Veste, Thomas Littmann, Anton Kunneke, Ben du Toit, Thomas Seifert
Plant Soil Environ., 2020, 66(3):119-127 | DOI: 10.17221/616/2019-PSE
Under the conditions of climate change in South Africa, ecological and technical measures are needed to reduce the water consumption of irrigated crops. Windbreak hedges are long-rated systems in agriculture that significantly reduce wind speed. Their possibilities to reduce evapotranspiration and water demand are being investigated at a vineyard in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Detailed measurements of meteorological parameters relevant for the computation of reference and crop-specific evapotranspiration following the FAO 56 approaches within a vineyard in the Western Cape Province of South Africa have shown the beneficial effect of an...
Effect of drought and waterlogging on hydrophilic antioxidants and their activity in potato tubersOriginal Paper
Matyáš Orsák, Zora Kotíková, František Hnilička, Jaromír Lachman, Radovan Stanovič
Plant Soil Environ., 2020, 66(3):128-134 | DOI: 10.17221/520/2019-PSE
Maintaining a strong antioxidant system is essential for preventing drought or waterlogging stresses damage in potato tubers. In the two-year pot experiment, the effect of long-term drought and waterlogging stresses on the content of phenolic acids, ascorbic acid, and antioxidant activity in potato tubers and relative water content of four cultivars was evaluated. Drought stress significantly (P < 0.05) decreased relative water content (RWC) in the leaves of all genotypes. The evaluation of the relationship between phenolic acid content and the level of plant stress expressed as RWC showed a negative correlation between RWC and most phenolic...
Impact of irrigation techniques on rice yield and dynamics of zinc in plants and soilOriginal Paper
Phuong Dinh Thi Lan, Hoa Nguyen Thanh, Nga Nguyen Thi Hang
Plant Soil Environ., 2020, 66(3):135-142 | DOI: 10.17221/660/2019-PSE
Zinc (Zn) insufficiency and water deficiency are primary challenges in intensive rice production systems. This study aims to examine the influence of two irrigation regimes, flood irrigation (FI) and water-saving irrigation (WSI), on rice grain yield and mobile Zn accumulation in soil and rice grains. Experiments were conducted in An Vien rice fields in the Tien Lu district, Hung Yen province, located in the middle of the Red River delta during four rice seasons from 2015 to 2016. The results showed that the WSI regime dramatically increased the grain yield and Zn concentrations in grain of rice. Grain yield was increased by 14.76% and grain Zn concentration...