Published in Scientific Papers. Series B, Horticulture, Vol. LXIV, Issue 1
Written by Maria-Mihaela MICUȚI, Aglaia POPA (BURLACU), Liliana BĂDULESCU, Florentina ISRAEL-ROMING
Nowadays, soil health is a key element in achieving agriculture sustainability. Worldwide organic farming is being increasingly promoted as a sustainable alternative to conventional farming because it can solve the problems associated with the usage of agrochemicals by long-term use of soil resources. Soil enzymes have been suggested as bioindicators of soil health because they are a measure of soil microbial activity, strictly related to organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycles and easy to measure. The purpose of this study was to measure the enzymatic activity (alkaline and acid phosphatase, amylase, cellulase and catalase) from the rhizosphere of organic and conventional soils. These biological indicators were correlated with some physio-chemical parameters such as humidity, pH, total nitrogen and organic carbon. The results showed a significant difference between the two soils with different management systems regarding the enzymatic activity, long-termed pesticide application having a negative effect on the soil enzymes. The results were strongly correlated with pH, total nitrogen and organic carbon.
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