Environmental principles of using drained organic soils under changing climate conditions

Abstract

The study is based on the results of long-term field experiments conducted on cultivated carbonate peat soils. The results indicate that the most effective and environmentally sustainable land-use system is a crop rotation comprising five to six fields of perennial grasses and two to three fields of annual crops, including spring rapeseed, sunflower, maize, soybean, oats, and triticale. This system ensures high agroecosystem productivity, with average yields of spring rapeseed reaching 3.0–3.3 t ha-¹ and sunflower 5.0–5.5 t ha-¹, while reducing peat organic matter mineralization from 6.2–6.4 t ha-¹ under crop rotations dominated by annual crops to 5.2–6.2 t ha-¹ in the proposed system. The application of fertilizer rates established on the basis of long-term field experiments further enhances soil fertility, reduces nutrient losses, and maintains an optimal water–air regime in peat soils. Perennial grasses play a key stabilizing role by enhancing organic matter accumulation, improving soil structure, and maintaining an optimal water–air regime.