Abstract:

Despite the expansion of soilless crop technologies, developed in highly efficient vegetable “industrial” farms, the soil-based agriculture still remains the main production environment. The soil characteristics have a decisive influence on crop health, yields, inputs, farm efficiency and food quality but also shape the natural environment around the farms, affecting deeply the life and activity of the human communities. The production of high-quality food, mainly vegetables, in the context of actual food safety and food security issues cannot be achieved without a throughout knowledge of soil characteristics, including its natural fertility, soil microbial community and ecosystem services. The Buzău area has a historic tradition both in vegetable production for consumption and creation of new varieties/hybrids. As a deeper understanding of any plant/crop/environment/economic research cannot be done without knowing the fundamental characteristics of the soil, in 2018, at the Vegetable Research and Development Station Buzău we performed a throughout pedological and agrochemical analysis of soil from the organic testing field. The already available data, published in the 80`s were outdated, as the analyzed plot is situated at less than 1 km distance of the Buzau river, in its lower basin and the young soils formed here changed quickly its characteristics. The soil is a calcaric alluvial soil, with high mobile phosphorus content, medium mobile potassium content and medium organic matter content, with slightly alkaline reaction (pH>8). Considering the physicochemical properties, this alluvial soil is very favorable for the vegetable production, due to the natural factors and the way of exploitation from the last decades. According to the quality indicators, the soil is in the 2nd quality class (74 points). The current study will be the basis for all future recommendations for organic and chemical fertilization, plant protection measures, irrigations and economic efficiency calculations, including the novel soil amelioration using microbial inoculants.