Published in Scientific Papers. Series "Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and rural development", Vol. 24 ISSUE 4
Written by Mariana BURCEA, Viorel Catalin OLTENACU, Cosmin Andrei BURCEA, Nicoleta OLTENACU

Fertility and soil balance cannot be maintained without the presence of organic matter and the addition of new quantities of plant residues or chemical and organic fertilizers, as plants extract significant amounts of nutrients from the soil each year. Therefore, the application of manure can be considered a good source for increasing the potential fertility of the soil. This study addresses on the fertilization with manure derived from cattle and sheep farming activities on the typical chernozem soil from the Romanian Plain. The effects of using these organic fertilizers are mainly observed in the behavior of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in the soil, as they are the main nutrients that influence agricultural crop yields. Potassium (K) has a secondary role, but along with pH and other macronutrients, it improves the physical and biological properties of the soil, as evidenced by the appearance and formation of a positive humus balance and an improvement in the NPK content of the soil. Following the application of manure over a period of more than five years, changes in the physical-chemical indicators are observed, such as the bulk density of soil which decreases from 1.28 g/cm³ to 1.17 g/cm³, or the humus that increases from 2.07 % to 2.57 %, after five years of manure action.

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