In 2011 a study was carried out analyzing the effects of road traffic on bioaccumulation of zinc and copper in selected species of dicotyledonous plants growing on adjacent grasslands. To do the research the plants were sampled from the 9-km-long Siedlce bypass, a part of the international route E-30. They were collected during the flowering stage, at following distances from the road: 1, 5, 10, 15 m. The content of zinc and copper was determined with the AAS method, with dry mineralisation done before. The highest concentration of the elements, regardless of the distance from the road, was found in Taraxacum spec. Among the tested plants, the lowest zinc content was in Vicia cracca, and the lowest copper content in Rumex acetosa. The limit for copper content was exceeded in Taraxacum spec. and, slightly, in Achillea millefolium growing at the roadside, closest to the roadway.

The aim of the studies was to determine the effect of slurry supplemented with UGmax and Humus Active soil conditioners and with NPK fertilizers on the content of structural and non‐structural carbohydrates and lignin in a forage grass species of Sulino variety [Festulolium braunii (K. Richt. A. Camus]. The 2‐yr field experiment with three replicates and a completely randomized design was established on the experimental facilities of the University of Natural Sciences and Humanities in Siedlce, Poland. Cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, total protein, crude ash, and crude fat in plant material were determined by near‐infrared reflection spectroscopy (NIRS). The amount of non‐structural carbohydrates was calculated by deducting the weight of other components from 1,000 g of dry matter. The applied fertilizer significantly affected the content of structural and non‐structural carbohydrates, but not lignin. The highest amounts of cellulose (283.0 g kg^–1) and hemicelluloses (220.2 g kg^–1) were recorded in plants treated with both slurry and Humus Active and UGmax, while the highest content of non‐structural carbohydrates (220.2 g kg^–1) was found in Festulolium braunii treated with slurry only. Cellulose and hemicellulose content significantly varied across growing seasons, while the amounts of cellulose, lignin, and non‐structural carbohydrates varied across harvests. The interaction of slurry with soil conditioners, unlike only slurry treatment affected the formation of hemicellulose and non‐structural carbohydrates. The combined use of Humus Active and slurry increased hemicellulose content by approximately 23%, while the content of non‐structural carbohydrates decreased by about 35% in comparison to plants treated with slurry only.

The aim of the experiment was to assess the effects of mineral and mushroom substrate nitrogen on the yield and selected parameters of Festulolium braunii. To this end, a two-year field experiment was conducted between 2017 and 2018. Spent mushroom substrate was applied at three levels (10, 15 and 20 Mg·ha⁻¹) and mineral nitrogen at four (30, 68, 105 and 180 kg·ha⁻¹). Mineral phosphorus and potassium were used at one level only, with 60 and 150 kg·ha⁻¹, respectively. The research also included the effects of the interaction between organic and mineral fertilizers and the determination of an optimal amount of nitrogen resulting in good-quality forage and a high yield. The plant used in the experiment was Festulolium braunii, an intergeneric hybrid of the Sulino variety. Treatment combinations significantly affected its yield, the content of total and digestible protein, as well as the energy values. For most forage parameters, the beneficial effects of mushroom substrate nitrogen and mineral nitrogen interaction were demonstrated, compared to the effects of mineral nitrogen applied on its own. The largest significant increase in the amount of biomass, was by 16% in comparison to plants treated with mineral fertilizers only (N₄PK); a significant increase in energy level (by 17%), was recorded for grass treated with 15 Mg·ha⁻¹ of mushroom substrate together with 68 kg·ha⁻¹ of mineral nitrogen (SMS₂ + N₂PK). The highest dose of nitrogen contained in mushroom substrate applied together with the smallest amount of mineral nitrogen (SMS₃ + N₁PK) resulted in the highest increase in total and digestible protein concentrations in the grass, 18% and 21% more, respectively, than in plants treated with mineral fertilizers only. The interaction of mineral and mushroom substrate nitrogen did not significantly affect the digestibility of the forage and its concentration of net energy of lactation (NEL).

This paper deals with the effects of slurry, soil conditioners, and mineral fertilizers on Festulolium braunii fiber content. The field studies with three replications and a completely randomized design lasted two years (2016–2017). The effects of slurry applied on its own or in combination with mineral fertilizers and with two products improving soil properties was tested on the Sulino cultivar of F. braunii, a forage grass species. The results of the studies demonstrated that crude fiber content of F. braunii significantly varied across harvests. The treatment also significantly affected neutral detergent fiber (NDF) fraction content in the biomass. Due to an interaction effect, its amounts in grass treated with the combination of slurry and UGmax, a product improving soil properties, increased by 10% when compared to plants treated with slurry only, and the addition of Humus Active, another product improving soil properties, increased it by 7%, while the addition of mineral fertilizers did so by only 4%. The amounts of acid detergent fiber (ADF) in F. braunii significantly varied across growing seasons. However, none of the research factors significantly affected the amounts of acid detergent lignin (ADL).

Increasingly cultivated all over the world, energy crops, with their large biomass production, can be used to produce liquid biofuel and biogas. The aim of the research was to evaluate the yield and selected energy parameters of prairie cordgrass (Spartina pectinata L.) treated with different doses of municipal sewage sludge and mushroom substrate. Heat of combustion, calorific values and ash content were investigated in the first three years of its cultivation. Carried out between 2018 and 2020, the research was based on a field experiment established at an experimental facility in Central-Eastern Poland. Organic waste doses, each of them introducing 170 kg N ha⁻¹, were applied once in spring 2018 before planting pieces of Spartina pectinata rhizomes. The experimental factors (organic waste doses and years of research) significantly affected the yield of prairie cordgrass. Significantly, the highest yield of its biomass was produced in response to municipal sewage sludge applied together with mushroom substrate (O₂₅ + PP₇₅) and in response to mushroom substrate applied on its own (SMS). Those values, averaged over three years of research, were, respectively, 4.23 and 4.18 Mg ha⁻¹. Organic waste treatment had a significant impact on ash content in dry matter. On average, the highest ash content in dry matter was recorded in response to mushroom substrate (5.73%) and the lowest (4.98%) in plants treated with the highest dose of sewage sludge together with the lowest dose of mushroom substrate (O₇₅ + PP₂₅). The higher dry matter content in plant biomass was, the better the energy parameters were.