EVALUATION OF CHEMICAL CONTENT IN DIFFERENT ENERGY CROPS

Abstract

For energy crops (reed canary grass and timothy grass), it is important to evaluate the sulphur and carbon content, and the harvested dry matter dependency on the fertilizer norm. Sulphur and carbon are important elements of a combustible material, and carbon is directly important as it forms the burning component. On the other hand, sulphur is an unwelcome element in combustible materials as it promotes environmental pollution. The field trials were carried out in sod calcareous soils in 2011–2013. A research was conducted to investigate the chemical content of two grasses: reed canary grass var. ‘Bamse’ (Phalaris arundinacea L.), and timothy grass ‘Jumis’ (Phleum pratense L.). Fertiliser norms (kg ha^-1) applied in the research were: N0P0K0 (control), N30, N60, and N90. The harvest yield is one of the most important factors to obtain biocombustible materials; however, it does not mean that the amount of the harvest yield guarantees also a good quality of grasses. The research showed that the trial year had the most significant influence on both the sulphur yield and content in dry matter, the fertiliser norm essentially influenced the sulphur (η=30.1%) and carbon (η=6.5%) yield, but for the sulphur yield, a 6% interaction effect was established between the trial year and the nitrogen fertilizer norm.

Keywords: energy crops, fertilizer norms, carbon content, sulphur content

Article DOI: http://doi.org/10.15544/RD.2017.143