Yield and selected physiological parameters of maize, sorghum, and triticale depending on fertilization system

Abstract

Effects of fertilization with digestate from agricultural biogas plant and its influence on growth and selected physiological parameters of maize, triticale, and sorghum plants cultivated for biogas production were studied in this work. The digestate was used as an organic fertilizer, being a substitute or supplement to mineral fertilization. The fertilization with the digestate had a positive effect on the fresh matter yield (FMY) of sorghum (85.4 Mg ha-1), the dry matter content (DM) of maize (41.9%) and sorghum (23.6%), as well as on the dry matter yield (DMY) of triticale (12.2 Mg ha-1) and sorghum (19.8 Mg ha-1). Among the studied species, the maize fertilized with digestate (variants N2 and N3) showed better growth responses compared to the maize that was fertilized with mineral fertilizers (plant nutrition status – SPAD of 54.8). No significant influence of fertilization variant was observed on the photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) and the leaf area index (LAI) of the tested plant species. The digestate proved to be a good fertilizer, supporting high yields without adverse effects on the physiological parameters of the plants.