Der Einfluss von Bodenbearbeitungs- und Saatverfahren auf den Zuckerriibenanbau unter den klimatischen Bedingungen Litauens

Abstract

As a result of the advancing globalisation high-quality agricultural products must be produced within ecological and economic parameters. In 2005 to 2007 field experiments on a light loam in central Lithuania were carried out, to determine the effects of four different soil tillage and sowing methods on soil parameters, sowing quality and the main sugar beet production parameters. The four sowing methods were direct drilling, mulch seeding after tillage with a rotovator, mulch seeding after tillage with a rotary harrow and conventional drilling. Additionally, laboratory experiments were carried out with traditional shoe coulters and experimental two discs and shoe coulters in a soil bin, considering soil conditions and the amount of straw on the soil surface. To assess the economic performance the power demand, fuel consumption and labour time were evaluated as a function of the different soil tillage and sowing methods. In Lithuania similar results can be obtained with mulch and conventional seeding. Best results in terms of the number of plants and beet yields up to 79.1 t ha"1 were achieved using the rotary harrow or rotovator while sowing. In comparison to mulch and direct seeding, conventional seeding resulted in significantly lower soil water content and soil bulk density. Methods of soil preparation without ploughs and mulch and direct seeding resulted in 48 % and 88 % reduced both energy and fuel costs compared to conventional methods. This reveals scope for considerable savings in machine costs.