The Reaction of Maize and Sorghum to Fertilization with Granulated Fertilizer Obtained from Digestate

Abstract

The aim of the conducted observations was to examine the effect of fertiliser produced based on plant digestate and resulting from the process of anaerobic fermentation of a substrate with sorghum (20%), beet (60%), rye (10%) and grass (10%) on the growth and yield of sorghum and corn. A strict, single-factor pot experiment was carried out in 2017–2018 in the Swojec Agricultural Experimental Unit at the University of Life Sciences in Wrocław. Fertilisation with digestate was the tested factor, with a focus on its influence on selected energy plants. Sucrosorgo sorghum and Atletico maize were analysed. During the research, the pots were placed in a vegetation hall. The research proved that the use of digestate-based fertiliser improves the productivity of both sorghum and maize, but only with an additional dose of basic macronutrients. The optimal variant is a fertiliser dose of 20 g enriched with 1.0 NPK. Increasing the dose to 30 g and 1.5 NPK generally did not result in a significant increase in plant height or in fresh and dry weights.