Zita Kriauciuniene

Vytautas Magnus University · Agiculture Academy

After evaluating the ecological and economic aspects, it is predicted that the use of urease inhibitors and biological preparations should reduce the risk of nutrient leaching by using fertilizers containing amide, ammonium, and nitrate forms of nitrogen and would increase nitrogen use efficiency. Moreover, with lower nitrogen fertilizer rates, it...

GHG emissions, diesel fuel, material and working time costs are critical parameters in crop production that affect the environment and crop cultivation costs. The aim of this research was to investigate the impact of tillage technologies of different intensities and different sustainable sowing systems on the environment, working time, fuel, and en...

To date, assessing the adaptive measures to climate change effects on cropping systems have generally been based on data from field trials and crop models. This strategy can only explore a restricted number of options with a limited spatial extent. Therefore, we designed a questionnaire that incorporated both qualitative and quantitative aspects of...

Precise and environmentally friendly fertilization is one of the most effective agrotechnical measures to improve crop yield, crop quality, and environmental sustainability. The aim of this study was to determine the uniformity of spreading of organic fertilizers on the soil surface at different flows by evaluating the influence of the physical and...

Multi-cropping systems play an important role in improving the quality of soil properties. A field experiment was carried at the Experimental Station of Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy (Lithuania) in 2017 to 2019. The aim of the study was to compare agrophysical and biological properties of the soil in the multi-cropping systems of s...

A field experiment was carried out at the Experimental Station of Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy in 2019–2020, in Lithuania. The aim of the study was to determine and to compare weed spread and caraway (Carum carvi L.) crop productivity in sole (spring barley, spring wheat, pea, caraway), binary (spring barley–caraway, spring wheat–...

This vegetative experiment was carried out at the greenhouse of Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy Open Access Joint Research Centre of Agriculture and Forestry (Lithuania) in 2020–2021. The aim of these studies was to determine the effect of different nitrogen rates on the productivity and nutritional quality of forage grasses (a mixtu...

Sowing time, as an element, is important to improving the adaptation of cultivars to environmental conditions and to achieving high seed yields. The field experiment was conducted from 2018–2019 at the Experimental Station of Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy. The experimental design included treatments with different sowing dates: eig...

Granular organic fertilizers have been increasingly used in agriculture due to the longer delivery of nutrients to plants and the milder impact on the environment. The aim of this study was to determine the energy, environmental and economic efficiency of granular and non-granular organic fertilizers. Four technological scenarios of organic fertili...

The field experiment was carried out at the Experimental Station of Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy (Lithuania) in 2017–2019. The aim of the study was to determine and to compare weed spread and caraway crop productivity in sole (spring barley, spring wheat, pea, caraway), binary (spring barley-caraway, spring wheat-caraway, pea-cara...

The integration of organic fertilisers into agricultural practices is one approach to enable more efficient agricultural management systems to decrease adverse environmental impacts of agriculture. In this context, the objective of this research was to determine the impact of long-term crop rotation and organic and mineral fertilisation on soil hum...

A field experiment was conducted during the 2014–2017 period at Aleksandras Stulginskis University (now—Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy) on a Endocalcaric Endogleyic Luvisol (LV-can.gln) according to the WRB 2014. The three nonchemical weed control methods were explored: (1) thermal (using wet water steam), (2) mechanical (interrow l...

Agricultural management, environmentally friendly technologies, chemical, organic and bio-based substances used, as well as meteorological factors, have a significant impact on the fluctuations of soil organic carbon (SOC). The aim of this research was to analyze the effect of different biopreparations on the changes of SOC content and the winter w...

“Caring for Soil is Caring for Life” is the title of the mission proposed by the Soil Health and Food Mission Board. The mission’s goal is to “ensure that 75% of soils are healthy by 2030 and are able to provide essential ecosystem services”, such as the provision of food and other biomass, supporting biodiversity, storing and regulating the flow o...

Maize productivity is mainly constrained by the climate, meteorological and soil conditions, and agro-technological practice. Reduced primary tillage intensity might be a method to optimize the complex interactions between these conditions. An 8-year field experiment was designed to test this. The aim of the experiment was to establish the influenc...

Strip tillage has become increasingly more popular owing to the reduced direct impact of the soil tillage machines. Depending on the crops cultivated and strip widths, only a part of the soil is disturbed therefore the impact on soil is reduced. Strip tillage has a positive impact on soil protection and recycle of energy. Furthermore, the use of en...

Through field experiments and empirical analysis methods, this study determined the dependence of plant residue removal on the row cleaner’s settings in strip-tillage. The main research object of this study is row cleaners. By changing the slip angles (10, 15, and 22.5°), the gap between row cleaner discs in parallel (165, 180, and 195 mm), and the...

Different tillage technologies have different effects on CO2 emissions from soil. Unfortunately, little information exists about the impact of different types of tillage as compared with no-tillage, and the main controls. The aim of this research is to determine the relationship between physicomechanical, chemical and biological properties of soil...

Increasing healthy food production and energy use efficiency, as well as optimising the cost effectiveness of production and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, are currently the most important objectives of agriculture. The aim of this study was to assess different fertilisation methods in organic and sustainable farming using energy, environ...

Though the number of climate-change-related agro-phenological investigations are growing rapidly, the attention paid to spring crops has been much less than to winter ones. The objective of the current study was to investigate long-term temporal and spatial trends of spring barley phenology and to project changes in the timing and duration of diffe...

The efficiency and environmental impact of sugar beet production can be measured using a variety of energy consumption and carbon emission indicators, respectively. The goal of the present study was to analyse the energy and carbon emission indicators of sugar beet production systems that involved different farming methods and farm sizes. More spec...

The complex mutual interactions between soil properties and plants in high-biodiversity mono-cropping agro ecosystems have not been widely investigated. For this purpose, during 2009-2011, a stationary field experiment was conducted at the Experimental Station of the Aleksandras Stulginskis University to establish the effect of a multi-component ag...

The climate warming and earlier beginning of the vegetation period have enabled earlier sowing of agricultural crops. Sowing date can affect weed density in crops, including spring oilseed rape. Field experiments were carried out in 2015 and 2016 at the Experimental Station of Aleksandras Stulginskis University. The soil of the experimental site is...

The current study was aimed to establish the impact of non-chemical weed control methods (thermal, mechanical andsmothering) and biopreparations on winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) preparation for over-wintering and productivity under the conditions of the organic farming system. During the 2014–2016 period, a field experiment was conducted...

The field experiments were conducted at the Experimental Station of Aleksandras Stulginskis University in 2015–2017. The aim of the experiment was to evaluate the influence of sowing time on spreading of pests and diseases in spring oilseed rape crop. The first sowing occurred when soil reached physical maturity, the other sowing dates were every 5...

Oilseed rape, Brassica napus L., is an important crop for producing edible oil, biofuel and fodder. Oilseed rape is not only useful as a commercial plant, but it also improves the structure of the heavy granulometric soil fraction, activates microbiological processes, and reduces weed growth and disease rates. Oilseed rape belongs to the oil crop g...

Soil tillage involves the mechanical manipulation of soils used for crop production. Tillage is done to prepare an optimal seedbed, to loosen compacted soil layers, to control weeds, to increase aeration, to incorporate plant residues into the soil, to facilitate water infiltration and soil moisture storage, and to control soil temperature. Nonethe...

The current study was aimed to establish the effects of non-chemical weed control methods on the activity of soil enzymes and abundance of earthworms in an organically grown spring oilseed rape crop in the soil with a regular (23–25cm) and thickened (45–50 cm) humus layers. A field experiment was conducted during the 2013–2015 period at Aleksandras...

Climate warming and a shift in the timing of phenological phases, which lead to changes in the duration of the vegetation period may have an essential impact on the productivity of winter crops. The main purpose of this study is to examine climate change-related long-term (1961–2015) changes in the duration of both initial (pre-winter) and main (po...

The objective of this work was to assess the influence of the row cleaner attack angle, the gap between discs, the working depth of a narrow tine and the strip tillage machine's working speed on tractor fuel consumption and on greenhouse effect-related CO2 gas emissions into the environment. This research was carried out by changing the row cleaner...

One of the reasons why the area sown with oilseed rape in organic farms is not expanding is problems with weed, disease, and pest control as well as low seed yield. There is a lack of investigations on oilseed rape cultivated in an organic system, especially employing innovative weed control methods. To fill this gap in knowledge, field experiments...

This study aims to determine the impact of different non-chemical weed control systems on organically grown spring oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) crop weediness and yield of seeds. Non-chemical weed control systems: 1) thermal (water steam), 2) mechanical (inter-row loosening), and 3) smothering (self-regulation). Thermal (1.5–1.8 times) and mech...

Rapsų auginimo ekologinėje žemdirbystės sistemoje tyrimų pasaulyje atlikta nemažai, tačiau Lietuvos klimatinėmis sąlygomis jų trūksta, ypač taikant pažangias piktžolių kontrolės priemones. Lauko eksperimentas atliktas 2013–2014 m. Aleksandro Stulginskio universiteto Bandymų stotyje. Dirvožemis – giliau glėjiškas išplautžemis (Endohypogleyic Luvisol...

The EU pays much attention to the rural development. First of all, agricultural production is the basis for the development of the processing industry; it also enables the supply of food products. Secondly, it is important to preserve natural resources and reduce the climate change. Thirdly, it is necessary to improve living standards of the rural...

Lauko eksperimentas atliktas 2010–2012 m. Akmenės rajone, Kruopių seniūnijoje, Kruopių kaimo ūkininko Valiaus Ąžuolo ūkyje. Eksperimento lauko dirvožemis yra tipingas pasotintasis rudžemis ( Eutric Cambisol ). Tyrimų tikslas – įvertinti ligų ir kenkėjų paplitimą žieminių rapsų ( Brassica napus var. oleifera DC ) linijinės ir hibridinių veislių, pas...

The allelopathicaly active substances (the allelochemicals) which include phenolics or terpenoids generally representing secondary metabolites in cover crops may have stimulative, suppressive or a neutral effect on subsequent crop emergence and growth therefore is influencing yield. The aim of our investigations was to evaluate the allelopathic eff...

Allelopathic effect of Brassicaceae plants on crop and weed is an important factor in agriculture. Laboratory experiments were conducted in 2011 to evaluate the allelopathic effects of aqueous extracts of winter and spring oilseed rape residues (threshing remains, stubble and roots) on winter wheat germination and early growth. Oilseed rape residue...

Field experiment on different sowing dates of two winter rapeseed cultivars (Brassica napus L. spp. and oleifera biennis Metzg.) was carried out in years 2009-2010 at the Experimental Station of the Aleksandras Stulginskis University (54°53' N; 23°50' E). The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of winter rapeseed sowing date on the bi...

Rimantas Velička, Rita Čepulienė, Aušra Marcinkevičienė, Rita Pupalienė, Zita Kriaučiūnienė, Robertas Kosteckas, Sigitas Čekanauskas, Rūta Bieliauskaitė ALLELOPATHIC EFFECTS OF AQUEOUS EXTRACTS OF OILSEED RAPE RESIDUES ON SPRING BARLEY GERMINATION AND GROWTH Summary Experiments were conducted in the laboratory of the Aleksandras Stulginskis Unive...

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of crop residue type, chemical composition and amount of microorganisms on residue decomposition rate in the soil. Different residues types of winter and spring oilseed rape, winter wheat and red clover were incorporated into the soil in a field experiment. The decomposition rates of crop residues inc...

A field experiment on different sowing dates of winter rape (Brassica napus L. spp. oleifera biennis Metzg.) was carried out during 2007-2008 at the Experimental Station of Aleksandras Stulginskis University. Experimental treatments were sowing dates: 1) August I 0, 2) August 20, 3) August 30, 4) September 10. The objective of this study was to est...

A field experiment on different sowing dates of the two winter rape cultivars 'Sunday' and 'Kronos' (hybrid) was carried out during 2008-2009 at the Experimental Station of the Lithuanian University of Agriculture (54 degrees 53'N + 23 degrees 50'E). The soluble protein assays were done at the Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Institute of Botany. Th...

Research on crop residue decomposition was carried out during the period of 2004–2006 in a model field trial set up at the Experimental Station of the Lithuanian University of Agriculture. The soil of the experimental site is Endocalcari-Epihypogleyic Cambisol (sicco) (CMg-p-w-can). Samples of residues of the aboveground parts and roots of winter a...

Field experiments were conducted in 2003–2005 at the Experimental Station of the Lithuanian University of Agriculture to study the changes of lignin concentration and C:N in roots and top residues of winter and spring oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.), winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) after 14, 33, 63, 85 an...

Experiments on the decomposition of crop residues were carried out at the Experimental Station of the Lithuanian University of Agriculture (54°53’N, 23°50’E) in a model field in 2004–2006. The soil of the experimental site is Endocalcari-Epihypogleyic Cambisol (sicco) (CMg-p-w-can). We investigated root residues of winter oilseed rape (Brassica nap...

Experiments on the decomposition of crop residues were carried out at the Experimental Station of the Lithuanian University of Agriculture (54°53'N, 23°50'E) in a model field in 2004–2006. The soil of the experimental site is Endocalcari-Epihypogleyic Cambisol (sicco) (CMg-p-w-can). We investigated root residues of winter oilseed rape (Brassica nap...