Technological aspects of growing energy crops on drained organogenic soils of the Northern Forest-Steppe

The article presents the research results on the selection of the most productive species of perennial herbaceous crops for energy purposes in the conditions of drained organogenic (peat) soils of the Northern Forest-Steppe. The influence of technological methods of growing energy crops on their growth, development, yield, and economic efficiency was determined. The experiment was conducted on a deep (1.8–2.0 m) drained old-plowed carbonate peat bog of cattail-sedge origin with a high decomposition degree, removed from intensive cultivation in the floodplain of the Supyi River at the Panfily Experimental Station of the National Research Center «IZ NAAS», Boryspil district, Kyiv region. The soil is well supplied with mobile forms of nitrogen, has an average phosphorus supply (due to vivianite layers) and quite limited potassium content. The experiment included perennial herbaceous crops, perennial cereal grasses (5 species) and their mixtures, perennial grasses of natural hayfields, and wild grass species. The following technology was used for growing energy crops: milling of the sod (mid-August) of long-term hayfields to a depth of 10-12 cm, followed by plowing to a depth of 22-25 cm. White mustard was sown as green manure to improve the efficiency of perennial grass layer using as a predecessor of energy crops. Spring pre-sowing tillage included double disking of the area by 10-12 cm, with the application of K60 before the last disking and rolling with heavy marsh rollers. The studies have shown that the highest productivity among perennial herbaceous energy crops was provided by giant miscanthus, Jerusalem artichoke and sylphium with dry biomass yields of 27.43 t/ha, 24.07 t/ha and 22.51 t/ha, or 466.3 GJ/ha, 409.1 GJ/ha, 382.7 GJ/ha of energy respectively. Key words: biofuel, energy crops, giant miscanthus, organogenic soils, jerusalem artichoke, sylphium, dry matter, yield.