Barczi Attila: A Bakony természettudományi kutatásának eredményei 24. - A Tihanyi-félsziget talajai (Zirc, 2000)

SOILS OF THE TIHANY PENINSULA AND THEIR ROLE IN SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

SOILS OF THE TIHANY PENINSULA and their role in sustainable agriculture Preliminaries and aims of the research It is indisputable that soils are of primary importance in land use for sustainable agriculture. An assessment of the potential of Hungarian agro-ecology was completed in 1983, in preparation for the new millenium. Amongst the outcomes of the assessment was, that in addition to meteorological and hydrological conditions, production is determined by the fertility and the expansion of useable land. Productivity is based primarily on the protection of agricultural land and rational land-use. Land-use based on the characteristics of different soils is directly related to agriculture, therefore the creation of soil maps and their modern processing is an important task. Agricultural land-use is a complex activity due to the multi-functionality of land (or a landscape), and today includes the creation and maintenance of living complexes of plants and animals. It is an important task to ensure the protection of the most important natural features. Agricultural land-use as a discipline helps to preserve farming landscapes and to establish an agriculture close to nature. Different land and soils contain and combine natural conditions which also determine the quality of the land, while the social environment also has an influence on soils (e.g. agriculture) and on the formation of the landscape. So through the examination of soils the natural and social environment can be analysed, and their influence upon one another can affect both natural and cultivated landscapes. For the selection of the research area one important consideration was that the selected area should have agricultural traditions as well as be rich in landscape and other ecological values where agriculture is limited or restricted, or where the interests of farming conflict with other land usage. The selection of the research area was assisted by the fact that for the creation of national parks (e.g. the Balaton Felvidéki National Park, selected for this research) the collection of scientific data is indispensable for both conserved land and farming soils. Due to the identified touristic value, the buffer zones and the land surrounding the conserved areas require attention also. Additionally, it is important to examine the role and suitability of agricultural areas. Finally I selected the Tihany Peninsula (Tihany Félsziget) for this study, which is famous both for its protected natural value and for its touristic interest, as well as through agriculture providing a possible income to inhabitants. The selected research aims were as follows: • to make a detailed scientific assessment of the soils of the Tihany peninsula • to identify alterations to the soils utilising previous data • to identify the soil-forming factors influencing the Tihany soils and the role played by people in creating a farming landscape • to establish possibilities for careful, flexible agricultural land-use