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During the last decades, notillage has started to be used on more and more areas, being a conservative tillage system practiced in many farms in the country. The aim of this study was to quantify the effects of the no-tillage system on the physical properties of the soil compared to the conventional system, in a plateau area with cambic chernozem soil under the current climatic conditions in the north-east of Romania, in order to implement it in agricultural practice of the studied area. The soil samples were taken in natural and undisturbed conditions for bulk density and moisture content, soil penetration resistance was determined using the Eijkelkamp penetrologger. The status of soil compaction, the various porosity categories, and the soil moisture content were all determined based on field and laboratory analysis. Measurements performed at a depth of 0-40 cm showed a lower bulk density in the conventional system, and in terms of variation in values from sowing to harvesting, there was a maximum increase of 18% in the 10-20 cm soil layer, an intermediate of 10% in the topsoil and 20-30 cm layers, and a minimum of 1% in the 30-40 cm layer. Total porosity, which reflects soil pore volume, is inversely correlated with bulk density, which means that under conventional tillage practices, soil macropore volume (>0.05 cm) was higher (47.79-60.82% v/v) than under no-tillage practices (45.90-50.79% v/v) for 0-40 cm depth at the sowing time. The results confirm that the no-tillage system conserves more water in the soil under current climatic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of Aquasorb on soil moisture and some morpho-physiological properties (average plant height and leaf chlorophyll content) was studied in maize cultures. Aquasorb is a copolymer of acrylamide and potassium acrylate, which works in absorption-desorption cycles of water and nutrients. During humid periods, it significantly increases its volume, becoming largely expanded, and during droughts it releases water and plant nutrients. In the global climate change context, agrotechnical problems such as water retention in the soil are becoming more and more frequent and, therefore, the use of a hydrogel can be a measure with beneficial implications for the agricultural sector. The experiment was carried out in vegetation vessels with a volume of 6 l, in which four variants were placed: V1 (control, untreated) and V2 (treated with 20 kg ha-1 of Aquasorb) under normal climatic conditions and variants V3 (without treatment) and V4 (treated with 20 kg ha-1 of Aquasorb), which were subject to water stress. It was induced by plants (in V3 and V4) by reducing the number of waterings by half compared to variants V1 and V2, from the 4-6 leaf stage in maize. The hydrogel treatment was performed at sowing depth (8-10 cm for maize), together with the application of complex fertilizer. The results showed that, in optimal humidity conditions, plants do not make use of the positive effect of the hydrogel, but in water stress conditions, Aquasorb is used in the agricultural sector, at least for maize crops, possibly for other crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]