Recycling organic waste is most important for preserving natural resources. The research objective was to quantify the effect of the application of vermicompost and vermicompost leachate on the yield and quality of strawberries and compare it with a standard fertilization program with mineral fertilizers during a 3-year production cycle. Five fertilization treatments were studied: control—without fertilizer (Ø); vermicompost (V); vermicompost + foliar application of vermicompost leachate (VL); vermicompost leachate through fertigation and foliar application (L); and mineral NPK fertilizers (NPK). The application of V positively affected strawberry yield only in the first year. In all three years of fruiting, the highest yield was measured for NPK treatment. In the first year, fertilization had no effect on fruit quality, while in the second and third years, the application of leachate led to a significantly higher concentration of total soluble solids, total anthocyanins, antioxidant activity of the fruit, and a lower concentration of total acid. Strawberries are grown for a two- or three-year production cycle, so the application of V and VL cannot maintain the yield level as was with the application of mineral NPK fertilizers. The quality of strawberry fruit, however, can be improved significantly.

Digestate is a residue of the anaerobic decomposition of organic waste for biogas extraction, but it can be reused as a source of nutrients. To examine the effect of digestate in kohlrabi production, field experiments were conducted during three seasons in two calendar years. The fertilization treatments included the application of solid digestate (two rates—DS1 and DS2), liquid digestate (two rates—DL1 and DL2), solid manure (two rates—MS1 and MS2), and mineral fertilizer (NPK) and were compared with a plot without fertilization (Ø). The results showed a significant increase in the yield with the use of solid and liquid digestate, as well as with NPK, in all growing seasons, while the microelement contents (Zn, Mn, and Cu) in the leaves were at optimum level. The applied treatments did not increase the plant-available nutrients (AL-P₂O₅, AL-K₂O, Fe, Cu, and Zn) in the soil (except Mn). The application of DL2, MS1, and MS2 led to a higher Pb content in kohlrabi stems compared to the control, but the Pb content remained below the maximum permitted limit. Our research showed that digestate can be used as a valuable source of nutrients for kohlrabi production, with a low risk of soil and plant contamination by heavy metals. However, the control of soil, digestates, and manure quality is recommended.

In a field experiment on a farm registered for organic production, we studied the economic profitability of the application of different organic materials (farmyard manure, FYM; guano, G; soybean meal, S, and forage pea meal, P) in lettuce production. The highest fertility costs per unit of N were found with the P treatment (6.22 € kg N⁻¹), and the lowest with the FYM treatment (0.8 € kg N⁻¹). Due to the application of organic materials, the highest additional profit was made with the FYM treatment (1289 € ha⁻¹), and the lowest with the P treatment (729 € ha⁻¹). If the farm does not have manure at its disposal, with current market prices, the economically most sound application is soybean meal and forage pea meal.

Accurate delineation of within-field management zones (MZs) is essential for implementing precision agriculture, particularly in spatially heterogeneous environments. This study evaluates the spatiotemporal consistency and practical value of MZs derived from three complementary data sources: electromagnetic conductivity (EM38-MK2), basic soil chemical properties (pH, humus, P₂O₅, K₂O, nitrogen), and vegetation/surface indices (NDVI, SAVI, LCI, BSI) derived from Sentinel-2 imagery. Using kriging, fuzzy k-means clustering, percentile-based classification, and Weighted Overlay Analysis (WOA), MZs were generated for a five-year period (2018–2022), with 2–8 zone classes. Stability and agreement were assessed using the Cohen Kappa, Jaccard, and Dice coefficients on systematic grid samples. Results showed that EM38-MK2 and humus-weighted BSP data produced the most consistent zones (Kappa > 0.90). Sentinel-2 indices demonstrated strong alignment with subsurface data (r > 0.85), offering a low-cost alternative in data-scarce settings. Optimal zoning was achieved with 3–4 classes, balancing spatial coherence and interpretability. These findings underscore the importance of multi-source data integration for robust and scalable MZ delineation and offer actionable guidelines for both data-rich and resource-limited farming systems. This approach promotes sustainable agriculture by improving input efficiency and allowing for targeted, site-specific field management.

A three-year field trial was conducted to determine the effects of mulching with black polyethylene film and fertilizing with organic and mineral fertilizers in mid-early cabbage production. The two-factor trial was set up as a split-plot design. The main plots included unmulched and mulched treatments. The sub-plots consisted of unfertilized control and five fertilized treatments. In the first and third trial years, total cabbage yield, total head yield, and average head weight were significantly higher on black polyethylene film plots than on unmulched plots. However, in the second year, the mean air temperature during cabbage growing exceeded the long-term average, and values of the examined parameters did not differ significantly between the mulched and unmulched treatments. In all three years, amounts of removed nutrients were significantly higher in treatment with composted pig manure + mineral fertilizer. Mulching significantly increased fertilizer use efficiency in the first and third years, while the second year saw better results on unmulched plots.