ASSESSING THE AGRO-ECOSYSTEM PERFORMANCE IN A LONG-TERM WINTER WHEAT CROPPING

The aim of this study was to access the impact of agricultural practices to the multiple agro-ecosystem function of winter wheat cropping systems. The data were obtained from a long-term experiment at the Rimski Šančevi experimental station of the Institute of Field and Vegetable crops. A simple performance-based index was used to discriminate among treatments based on the crop and soil parameters within the different agro-ecosystems. The following indices were used: food production, raw material production, nutrient cycling and greenhouse gas regulation. Continuous cropping resulted with decrease in the utilization of the agro-ecological potential. Our results indicate that the soil have lost productivity and quality, irrespective to the applied cropping practices. Accordingly, it was found that yield variation resulted mostly from unfavorable climate condition, thus fertilization had the essential effects on yield preservation. At the end of the investigated period 3-year rotation has highest utilization of the inherent soil productivity in comparison with investigated wheat-based cropping systems.