CHARACTERIZATION OF AN AGROFORESTRY SYSTEM FROM WEST OF ROMANIA THROUGH SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS OF SOIL

The agroforestry systems in Romania are rare and low studied, although the advantages provided by these systems to agriculture are multiple. The aim of this research was to use several soil indicators widely used as indicators of soil sustainability to characterize an agroforestry system from western Romania, Timis County (45.45418 degrees N, 20.90334 degrees E). The studied agroforestry system was a silvoarable ecosystem and consisted of two components: a woody perennial plant represented by Euro-American hybrid poplar trees (Populus deltoides x Populus nigra) and an agricultural crop -rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) -hybrid LG Architect. The soil parameters analyzed for both components were pH, humus, total nitrogen, plant-available phosphorus, and plant-available potassium. There have been found higher values of the soil parameters pH, humus, plant-available phosphorus and plant-available potassium in the soil cultivated with rapeseed than those of the soil planted with hybrid poplar, and statistically significant (p<0.01) correlations between several soil factors of the two components of the silvoarable system: between pH and plant-available potassium in the Populus spp. plantation and between humus and plant-available phosphorus in the rapeseed crop. The findings of this study show benefits expressed as nutrient increase of soil for the rapeseed crop in the silvoarable system poplar-based and emphasize the favourable association of these two types of plants: trees and crops.