Rational use of available land is of great importance for the economic development of every society, especially considering the fact that soil is the primary production resource, thereby placing an even greater importance on its protection and conservation, but also on the correct use of it. This paper focuses on the municipality of Bužim, located in the north/western part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the soil suitability for the purposes of corn cultivation were assessed and examined by using the FAO (1976) methodology of AEZ (agroecological zoning), which uses input data such as soil characteristics, climate change, relief patterns of the investigated area, and the requirements of the agricultural crops. Within the municipality of Bužim, 13,026.27 ha of the land is used for agricultural purposes. In regards with the corn, one distinguishes between two categories ofsoil suitability: the suitable classes (S1, S2, S3), which occupy more than 43.44% of the land surface, and the unsuitable class (the N class), which only occupies 0.94% of the land surface. Thus, it can be concluded that conditions necessary for corn do exist within the municipality of Bužim, in the form of land resources, and higher yields can be achieved by implementing landscaping measures and introducing new corn varieties in accordance with the latest scientific and expert achievements.

The consequences of improper land management are long-term, inadequate for agricultural production, and reflected through the loss of land, reduced yields, soil erosion, etc. In order to determine the optimal role or suitability of the land for apple cultivation within the Bužim municipality, a survey was conducted according to the FAO method of AEZ (FAO, 1976), and based on the obtained results, an assessment of the suitability of the land for apple cultivation was carried out. It was found that a significant land portion of the total of 13,026.27 ha agricultural land within the Municipality of Bužim is suitable for fruit production marked from S1 to N suitability class. Thus, the areas with the best graded class S1 cover only 1.23% or 159.52 ha, the S2 class occupies 5.51% (717.24 ha), the S3 class occupies 2.29% (298.24 ha). However, the largest areas are marked as the unfavourable N-class with 36.68% (4,772.60 ha). It is evident that pre-existing conditions for apple production within the municipality do exist. With the implementation of the necessary measures of soil/ land regulation, education of agricultural producers, and mindfulness of constraint factors hindering intensive production such as terrain slope, depth, rockiness and soil response, progress in production can be made. Key words: municipality of Bužim, soil suitability, apple, AEZ.

The aim of the investigation is to determine water resources available in the Bratunac municipality as an opportunity for irrigation in agriculture, one of the most important economic sectors in that municipality at the present time. The study area covers almost the whole Bratunac municipality and includes 20 of the total of 27 local communities. Research of the hydrogeological characteristics and the required quantities of water for irrigation in the studied local communities showed that in 10 local communities, irrigation can be provided using underground water withdrawn by means of excavated or drilled wells. Adequate water supply in many other local communities could be obtained from nearby surface water streams. In five local communities, the surface water from local rivers is not sufficient to ensure adequate water supply; therefore, an alternative solution consisting in the catchment of water from the Drina river has been proposed. The alternative solution for all local communities situated in the Glogovac river valley could consist in securing the required amounts of water from that water stream.

Rational use of available land is of great importance for the economic development of every society, especially when considering the fact, that the soil is a primary production resource, thereby placing an even greater importance on its protection and conservation, but also on the correct use of it. This paper focuses on the municipality of Bužim, located in the north-western part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where we assessed and examined the soil suitability for the purposes of potato cultivation by using the FAO methodology of AEZ (agro-ecological zoning), which uses input data such as soil characteristics, climate changes, relief patterns of the investigated area, and the requirements of the agricultural crops. Within the municipality of Bužim, 13,026.27 ha of land is used for agricultural purposes. In regards to the potato cultivation, one distinguishes between two categories of soil suitability: the suitable classes (S1, S2, S3) which occupy more than 45% of the land surface, and the unsuitable class (the N class) which only occupies 1.43% of the land surface. Thus, it can be concluded that conditions necessary for potato production do exist within the municipality of Bužim in the form of land resources, and higher yields can be achieved by implementing landscaping measures and introducing new potato varieties in accordance with the latest scientific and expert achievements.

Amateurish and unprofessional handling of agricultural resources has lasting und unprecedented consequences for plant production, manifesting itself through the loss of soil quality, reduced crop yields, soil erosion, etc. The main focus of this research was to establish the characteristics of the agricultural soil within the municipality of Bužim, applying the FAO method AEZ (Agro-ecological Zoning), (FAO, 1978), and based on the achieved results, to assess the soil suitability for plum (Prunus domestica) cultivation. The assessment of the soil suitability has led to the conclusion that a significant part of land (classified S1 to N in quality), out of the total 13.026,27 ha of agricultural area belonging to the municipality of Bužim is well suited for fruit production. The following has been observed: areas with the best rated S1 class make up a total of 1.23% (159.52 ha), the S2 class takes up a total of 5.51% (717.24 ha), the S3 suitable class makes up a 2.29 % (298.24 ha) in total, and the largest area totaling 36.68 % (4.772.60 ha) is classified as N - meaning unsuitable soil. The main restraints imposed on intensive plum cultivation within the examined area are lack of nourishment, tilt, depth, rock-strewn soil and soil reaction.

Summary The surface exploitation of mineral raw materials inevitably changes the environment, thus resulting in soil degradation. This paper presents the results of growing sudangrass (Sorghum sudanense Pers.) in the reclaimed Deposol (technosols) in the Stanari Coal Mine area. Green manuring was the cultural practice used for sudangrass growing and land reclamation. The purpose of this research is to increase the amount of organic matter in the Deposol surface layer. The research was performed within a two-year period (2009-2010) at the experimental (technosol) site of the Stanari Coal Mine, located on the inside part of the overburden deposition site, near the Raskovac pit. The research of green manuring included a two-factor experiment with four replications. Two cultivars of sudangrass (Factor A) were used with three fertilization treatments (Factor B). The soil analyses indicated a sandy and low fertile soil. The experimental plot Deposol showed favorable physical properties, whereas its chemical and biological properties proved very unfavourable. The highest yield of biomass (29.15 t ha-1), as well as the dry matter (10.30 t ha-1), was recorded in the cultivar ‘Piper Sweet’ (in 2009), which was completely treated with mineral fertilizers. The lowest yields of biomass (2.05 t ha-1) and dry matter (0.95 t ha-1) were observed in the cultivar ‘Srem’ in 2010. Statistically significant differences were found between the treatments applied, emphasizing that only certain cultivars of sudangrass and types of fertilization (encompassing reasonably high amounts of nitrogen) can significantly increase the amount of organic matter in Deposol.