The role of soil in climate change has not been studied for a long time, but it has gradually become an important research area since the 1980s, depending on the increasing extent of global climate change. Agriculture contributes significantly to the growth of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and is responsible for 20% of growth. Gases – mainly carbon dioxide – released from the decomposition of organic matter in the soil, are emitted in increasing quantities as the soil temperature increases. Therefore, global climate change also affects the carbon cycle of the biosphere by increasing soil temperatures. As soil respiration increases, warming may increase. The correlation between soil cultivation and carbon dioxide emissions shows that emission increases after cultivation.

The purpose of our experiment was to examine carbon dioxide emissions in the case of different tillage methods. Our experiments were carried out at the Látókép Experimental Station of the Institutes for Agricultural Research and Educational Farm of the University of Debrecen, where we observed the difference between ploughed and ripping tillage methods in autumn. My experiments were carried out with a Testo 535 type measuring device, which is a CO2 concentration measuring instrument that operates on the basis of infrared absorption. Differences were analysed with the RStudio statistical system. Analytical values were measured in ppm, which was converted to g m-2 h-1.

We examined the increment of carbon dioxide emission of the soil after autumn cultivation, and we experienced the difference between winter ploughing and ripping. The obtained results showed the increase of carbon dioxide emission after cultivation, as well as how the different types of cultivation influenced the emission.

Keywords: tillage methods, carbon dioxide emission, soil moisture, soil temperature