Fertility of Soils over Loess in the Danubian Plain

The loess in the Danubian plain is rich of nutrients and there is situated the south border of so called ―corn belt of Europe‖, where are the most fertile soils of Balkan Peninsula. There are five main typical soil types spread over loess - Chernozems, Phaeozems, Kastanozems, Regosols and Calcisols. There is also a big diversity in the content of basic nutrient elements – it varies between low and high content of organic carbon and mobile forms of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. As a whole there is shortage of phosphorus in all soil types. Soils over loess are characterized by a surface layer that is rich in organic matter, minerals and nutrients with abundant natural grass vegetation and high fertility soil types such as Chernozems, Phaeozems and Kastanozems. Eroded and shallow soils such as Regosols and Calcisols have low quantities of major nutrient elements as mobile nitrogen, phosphorus, and total organic matter, consequently their fertility is low.