Nutrient Stocks Study in Agroecosystems Located near the Steel Industry, Galati, Romania

Abstract

It is well known the role of nutrients in growing crops and obtaining cost-effective production, but also to ensure a nutritious contribution to humans and animals alike, in food safety conditions. This study aims to evaluate both the supply of nutrients and the main parameters of agricultural soils, in 0-30 cm layer, under intensive agricultural practices pressure, undertaken in an agricultural area influenced by steel industry activities. The soil samples were collected from three sites and different plots grown with wheat, corn and sunflower, and subjected to analysis protocols within Galati County Soil Survey Office. Soil supply with the main macronutrients indicates imbalances in all studied sites, regardless of the cultivated plants. Overall, soils have a high nitrogen deficiency, correlated with the low level of soil organic matter supply. Total Kjeldahl nitrogen values are between 0.076-0.258 % for all surveyed plots. Mobile phosphorus is low to very high (8-276 ppm), while mobile potassium is low to very high (70-600 ppm). This is due on the one hand to the natural process of soil degradation through water and wind erosion, and on the other to anthropogenic activities. Most of the time, out of the desire to obtain large harvests, farmers apply non-compliant amounts of fertilizers, which translates into the physical and chemical degradation of agricultural soils and poor management of crop nutrition. Other investigated soil parameters were pH, particle size fractions, as they are related to the dynamics of chemical elements in soil. It could be concluded that, the studied agricultural soils are characterized by imbalances in terms of providing chemical elements accessible to plants, in relation to the main investigated physico-chemical parameters and environmental conditions.