The objectives of this study were to investigate: (1) the effects of fertilization, environment, and their interactions on the thousand grain weight (TGW), hectolitre weight (HW) and grain yield (GY) of winter triticale, and (2) the correlations between these traits in different environments. The invariable nitrogen (80 kg N ha⁻¹), potassium (60 kg K₂O ha⁻¹) and two phosphorus (60 and 100 kg P₂O₅ ha⁻¹) doses were used in Kragujevac location in central Serbia. Nitrogen was applied individually and in combination with two phosphorus rates and one rate of potassium fertilizer. Eight fertilization treatment controls and N₈₀, P₆₀, P₁₀₀, N₈₀P₆₀K₆₀, N₈₀P₁₀₀K₆₀, N₈₀P₆₀ and N₈₀P₁₀₀ were examined during three growing seasons. The yield and quality of triticale significantly varied across years and treatments. The average yield of all treatments in the 2015 growing season was significantly greater than in the previous years (3.597 t ha⁻¹). Combined usage of NPK fertilizer (80 kg N ha⁻¹, 100 kg P₂O₅ ha⁻¹ and 60 kg K₂O ha⁻¹) represented the excellent base for optimum supply of major nutrients, resulting in maximum GY (4.0 t ha⁻¹). Negative and significant correlation was found between grain GY and TGW (−0.392^*) in 2015, and positive highly significant correlation were in 2013 (0.648^**) and 2014 (0.493^**). The positive effect over complete application of fertilizer is the result of a lower pH value of the soil, as well as the low content of available phosphorus and potassium in Vertisol soil type. Optimizing fertilization for maximum profitability is of great importance in the future triticale production in Pannonian Environments.

The objective of this study was to estimate genotype by locality, by year, by treatments (G×LxYxT) interaction using AMMI model, to identify maize genotypes with stable number of rows of grains performance in different growing seasons. The trials conducted with seven maize lines/genotypes, four treatments, two years and at the two locations. The results showed that the influence of genotype (G), year (Y), locality (L), and G×L, G×T, G×L×T, G×Y×T, G×Y×L×T interaction on maize number of rows of grains were significant (p<0.01). The genotype share in the total phenotypic variance for the grains number rows of was 53.50%, and the interaction was 21.15%. The results also show that the sums of the squares of the first and second major components (PC1 and PC2) constitute 100% of the sum of the squares of the interaction G×L. The first PC1 axis belongs to all 100%, which points to the significance of the genotype in the total variation and significance of the genotype for overall interaction with other observed sources of variability. The highest stability in terms of expression of the grains number of rows had the genotype L-6, followed by the genotypes L-4, L-5 and L-3. The lowest stability was demonstrated by the genotypes L-2 and L-1, which confirmed that these genotypes are not important for further selection in terms of this trait.

The aim of this study was to determine the ability of roots and above-ground parts of three plant species of the Asteraceae family (Matricaria inodora L., Achillea millefolium L., Crepis setosa Haller fill.) for bioaccumulation and translocation of eight metals (Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cr). Those plants were sampled directly along the lanes of the highway at the entrance into the City of Kragujevac, Republic of Serbia. The investigated metals are emitted into the air from road traffic and are deposited in the surrounding soil. Many of them are toxic to the living organism, and it is, therefore, necessary to apply effective, economical, sustainable methods for their removal from the environment. An example of such a method is as phytoremediation, based on the use of metal hyperaccumulator plants. The results of this research showed the species studied differ in the absorption, translocation and accumulation of investigated metals. They also showed that species M. inodora and A. millefolium (leaves) can be used for the phytoextraction of Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn and Cr, species C. setosa (leaves) for Ca, Mg and Cu species M. inodora (stem) for Cr. The results further indicate that all three species absorb Zn from the soil and translocate it to the stems and leaves. All three of the studied species are suitable for phytostabilization of soils loaded with Zn, but only the species M. inodora and C. setosa can be applied in phytoremediation of this metal.

The total area under cereals during 2018 remained at a long-term stable level of about 1.7 million hectares. Maize and wheat are the most important crops grown in the Republic of Serbia. In the structure of harvested areas under cereals, maize dominates (53%), followed by wheat (38%). The objective of this paper was to determine if there was a recognisable trend line for the production of these crops in the 2007-2018 period. The yield data (Area harvested (ha), Production (tonnes), Production (t/ha)) were collected from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia. Calculations of relevant and valid trends using central tendency measures, dispersion measures, relative ratios and percentage growth were used for statistical data processing. During the observation period, the average annual growth in maize yield was 6.38%, while the average annual growth in wheat yield was slightly lower, 2.00%. However, it is not possible to create an appropriate trend line for any of the variables in order to predict a future time period, since the coefficient of determination is low.

Pseudogley soils in Serbia are characterized by poor chemical and physical properties that limit maize yields. Nevertheless, they are still used on large areas due to their favorable topographic position and lack of better-quality soils. It is common practice to regularly apply mineral fertilizers to these soils, but this does not increase maize yields to an economically sufficient level, although the doses are increased. At the same time, the inappropriate application of mineral fertilizers deteriorates soil chemical properties. Lime is only moderately used in Serbia despite its known benefits, whereas manure is not satisfactorily used. Therefore, a two-factorial experiment was set up as a randomized block design with three replications and conducted near Kraljevo, Serbia, to investigate the effect of mineral fertilizers, manure and lime on maize growth. The experiment included three fertilization regimes: F—application of common fertilizer doses, LF—application of the same fertilizer doses with 3 t·ha⁻¹ of lime, and LMF—application of the same fertilizer doses with lime and 30 t·ha⁻¹ of manure. The response of four maize hybrids to different fertilization practices was investigated. The soil was acid, poor in humus, and contained an increased content of mobile aluminum. There was a significant increase in the 3-year average yield of all hybrids in LMF- and LF-treatments compared with F-treatment, 30.7 and 25.6%, respectively. The increase in yield was accompanied by an improvement in soil chemical properties after three years, i.e., increased soil reaction in LF- and LMF-treatments, increased content of available phosphorus, an increase in base saturation by 61 and 75%, and aluminum immobilization by 2.55 and 4.19 fold, respectively, compared to initial conditions. The hybrid NS 640 demonstrated the highest yield when only mineral fertilizers were used, which indicated its tolerance to the unfavorable physical and chemical soil properties and suggested that it can be recommended for growing on pseudogleys without applying amelioration practices. The hybrids NS 6030 and ZP 606 achieved statistically significantly higher yields than the other hybrids when lime and manure were applied, which indicates that adequate fertilization coupled with soil improvement practices should be used in order to achieve satisfactory yields. The obtained results showed that liming can be considered as a longer-term sustainability practice in maize production in Serbia on pseudogley soils, and that there is an array of maize hybrids which can be grown depending on management strategies applied.