Evaluation and influence of composts and their organic matter on the growth of spring barley

Abstract

Pot trial experiments were conducted with the aim of determining organic matter composition and the influence on the growth of spring barley of different types of composts. The plants were grown in 6 l vegetative pots on the experimental site of the LRCAF Agrochemical Research Laboratory. Compost with soil were mixed by the following volume – 10, 20, 30 and 40%. Spring barley was grown for two years – in 2015 and 2016. This experiment investigated green waste and food waste, sewage sludge and biogas production waste. The largest amounts of organic matter, organic and total carbon, and total nitrogen were found in the biogas production waste compost. The minimum contents of organic matter and other nutrients were estimated in the green waste compost. The following biometric measurements on spring barley were taken: plant height, 1 000 grain weight and grain yield. The best growth of barley was in the substrate with biogas production waste in 2015 – plant height 43.7–53.7 cm, 1 000 grain weight 45.6–49.2 g, grain yield per pot 19.1–23.0 g, and the minimum contents were in the green waste substrate. In 2016, the best results were obtained in the substrates with green and food waste compost. The nitrogen content was determined in spring barley grain and straw. In 2015, the total nitrogen content in plant grains and straw was increased by the substrate of biogas production waste, and in 2016 it was increased by the substrate of food waste, sewage sludge and biogas production waste.