The Gowienica Miedwiańska catchment is a small agricultural catchment located in the NW of Poland draining into Lake Miedwie, on which a drinking water source for the city of Szczecin is located. The catchment is characterized by very rich soils. Subsequently, agriculture is intensive and this is thought to influence the poor water quality in the local area. Despite more than 20 years since first programmes of measures towards protection of water quality have been introduced into the catchment, these have not been produced the expected results, and the local farming community cites other sources such as poor sewage management rather that agricultural activity, as responsible for this problem. Evaluation of flow pathways in the catchment and identification of the areas responsible for the highest impact on local water quality was therefore conducted within the EU funded project Waterprotect. The aim of this study was to clarify sources of pollution precisely in space and time, in order to increase trust from stakeholders, so that targeted measures can be used effectively to improve water quality. The study included water quality monitoring, isotopic analysis and numerical flow modelling. Results showed that water quality in the catchment is spatially and temporally variable. 93% of nitrogen loadings into the Miedwie lake have been attributed to agriculture and only 7% to wastewater inputs. The local hydrology and hydrogeology play an important role in the distribution of the impacts from these inputs. As a result, three sub-catchments were identified which are differentiated by dominant pollution source, land use, and hydraulic characteristics. The highest inputs from agriculture have been identified in the most upper sub-catchment and this area have been pointed out as most suitable for implementation of agricultural best management practices towards protection of water quality at a local level.

Sida hermaphrodita (L.) Rusby is a promising perennial biomass crop to provide sustainable bioenergy via combustion. This study investigated cultivation practices for Sida hermaphrodita (L.) Rusby on light soils in temperate climates. Therefore, two cultivation factors were varied over 8 years in a field trial: (i) fertilization with compost from urban green spaces (0, 10 and 20 t ha⁻¹), and (ii) seeding amount (1, 2 and 3 kg ha⁻¹). Compost fertilization and high seeding amount contributed to an increase in the number and height of Sida shoots while their thickness decreased. The applied compost fertilization increased the dry matter yield (DMY) of the plants by 24.9% and 50.7%, respectively, in all experimental years compared to the control. Compared to the lowest seeding rate, increasing the seeding rate to 2 and 3 kg ha⁻¹ increased the DMY by 35.0% and 71.6%, respectively. Thus, the highest energy value of DMY of Sida hermaphrodita plants per unit area was also obtained for combining the highest organic compost fertilization and seeding strength. From this, it can be deduced that on light soils, it does not seem reasonable to choose a compost fertilizer rate below 20 kg ha⁻¹ and a seeding amount below 3 kg ha⁻¹.

Total content of macroelements and trace elements in Holocene calcareous gyttja from the post-bog area of north-western Poland | Grzegorz Jarnuszewski, Edward Meller | Agricultural Journals

Holocene limnic deposits characteristic of the average latitudes have partially outcropped as a result of young glacial sculpture aging. The change of the environment from limnic to telmatic and often the interference of a man associated with the regulation of water relations led to the emergence...

This study aimed to assess the effect of petrol and the Fyre Zyme reagent on selected chemical and biochemical properties of loamy sand. The experiment was conducted under laboratory conditions. First, petrol was introduced into the soil at doses of 0 and 50 g k⁻¹dry matter (DM). Next, 6% Fyre-Zyme enzyme reagent solution was added to the samples contaminated and uncontaminated with petrol, in the following combinations: 0 (control), once at 40 cm³ kg⁻¹ DM, twice at 20 cm³ kg⁻¹ DM at two-week intervals, and four times at 10 cm³ kg⁻¹ DM at weekly intervals. Contamination of loamy sand with petrol caused slight changes in the determined chemical parameters and stimulated dehydrogenase activities, but inhibited the activity of phosphatases. The introduction of the enzyme reagent into the soil increased the C_org and N_tot content. The greatest changes were observed in the activity of phosphatases. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves revealed that the application of the enzyme reagent at the application of 4 × 10 cm³ kg⁻¹ DM was the most beneficial. However, the results of the η² analysis indicate that the greatest influence on the determined experimental parameters was found in the soil contaminated with petrol.

Reed canary grass (RCG) is a native perennial grass with a wide range of uses that naturally occurs in moist habitats. The conducted research indicates the possibilities of RCG cultivation outside natural, humid habitats in monoculture on sandy soils in temperate climates to obtain biomass and seeds. The influence of two factors was analysed: (1) fertilisation with compost from urban greenery in doses of 0, 10, and 20 Mg·ha⁻¹ and (2) mineral nitrogen fertilisation in doses of 0, 40, 80, and 120 kg·ha⁻¹. Compost fertilisation (10 and 20 Mg·ha⁻¹) increased dry matter yields in all years of the study, by 12.1% and 41.0%, respectively. Also, nitrogen fertilisation in doses of 40, 80, and 120 kg·ha⁻¹ increased dry matter yield by 26.8%, 41.6%, and 65.0%, respectively. When harvesting RCG plants for energy biomass at their stage of full maturity, a significant seed yield of 242 to 600 kg·ha⁻¹ can also be obtained in the first three years, while in the fourth year of use, the seed yield was almost three times lower (90–158 kg·ha⁻¹). The obtained results indicate that, in sandy soils, the use of compost fertilisation in RCG cultivation can partially or entirely replace mineral fertilisation and ensure high and stable yields. An additional benefit may be the achievement of a high seed yield in the initial years of cultivation. The use of organic fertilisers and the independence from mineral fertilisers can significantly increase the profitability of bioenergy crops.