Soil characterization for cultivation of high-quality medicinal plants

Abstract

Main chemical and physical characteristics of soil under cultivation was tested during the year 2002., at four localities in South Banat region (Serbia), known for its long tradition of large scale cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAP). Following localities under different large scale MAP cultivation were included in soil investigation: Pančevo Bavanište, Gaj, and Dubovac. The obtained results showed that the soils included in investigation were mainly good for medicinal and aromatic plant production in respect to their chemical and physical properties; the content of heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cr, and Ni) was lower than maximal tolerant quantity in agricultural soils, while the content of policyclic aromatic carbohydrates (PAH-s) was lt 1mg/kg in all analyzed samples, except for the soil samples from locality Pancevo where it was 3-4 mg/kg.

Tokom 2002. godine, izvršena su ispitivanja hemijskih i vodno-fizičkih svojstava poljoprivrednog zemljišta na četiri lokaliteta u regionu južnog Banata gde se tradicionalno gaji lekovito i aromatično bilje na relativno velikim površinama. Istraživanjem su obuhvaćene površine zemljišta pod različitim lekovitim vrstama na lokalitetima: Pančevo, Bavanište, Gaj i Dubovac. Utvrđeno je da prema kriterijumima za proizvodnju visokovredne hrane, kvalitet zemljišta kada je reč o vodno-fizičkim i hemijskim svojstvima kao i u pogledu sadržaja biogenih makro i mikroelemenata i teških metala i policikličnih aromatičnih ugljovodonika (PAH-ova), gotovo na svim ispitivanim lokalitetima u potpunosti odgovara.