Peter Hric

Financing of grassland habitats in the Slovak Republic in 2010–2016

Abstract The grasslands in the Slovak Republic are divided into 7 categories that have different way and conditions of management to protect and maintain them. From the area of 1,239,777 hectares of habitats in SR and payments per hectare, we calculated the amount of financial support that represents 130,265,701 € for the A-G habitats in 2010-2016. Based on the data about potential use of grassland habitats in livestock feeding (mountain meadows and alluvial meadows), the production potential of C 3.12 t.ha-1biotope E 4.25 t.ha-1of dry matter was calculated, as a result of 5-years long experiment of the Department of Grassland Ecosystems and Forage Crops of SUA in Nitra. We calculated the direct costs for the production of hay dry matter, which reached 116.78 €.ha-1in the meadows, and 71.11 €.ha-1in valleys. Direct costs per 1 hectare of hay dry production are with a support covered on 111.0% of mountain meadows and 74% of meadows. The annual value of ecosystem services of grassland habitats reached 579,789,008 €. Subsidies for permanent grassland habitats stimulate the economy of agricultural subjects and protect the biodiversity of permanent grasslands.

The influence of various dose of nitrogen on botanical composition of turfs on the basis of drought-tolerant fescues cultivated under conditions without irrigation

The botanical composition of 2 turfgrass mixtures on the basis of drought-tolerant species Festuca rubra L. and Festuca arundinacea Schreb. was evaluated by method of reduced projective dominance in natural conditions in the Research state Nitra (western Slovakia) during years 2007 – 2012. The species composition of mixture was significant in the early stages of turf development. The rapidly evolving Lolium perenne L. (part of the mixture 1) had shortly after sowing relatively high ground cover. It was the dominant species in turf in year of turf establishment. Lolium perenne’s part was successively decreased in next period. Festuca rubra agg. acquired the dominance in turf. Turfgrass mixtures, which contained slower evolving Festuca arundinacea Schreb. and very slowly evolving Poa pratensis L., had suitable ground cover in autumn in year of sowing or until spring in next year. The effect of supplied nutrients was reflected in year of sowing in mixture 1, resp. from the second year of cultivation in mixture 2, when the variants fertilized by a dose of 90 kg*ha-1 N (V3) exhibited higher ground cover of grasses compared to unfertilized variant (V1) and variant V2 (45 kg*ha-1 N). Higher dose of nitrogen (V3) promote the competitive strength of both mixtures, which resulted in low to very low occurrence of weeds in turf in comparison with other variants.

Dynamics of the nitrogen content in aboveground phytomass on the turf after fertilization of different forms of fertilizers

The aim of this experiment was to find out dynamics of the nitrogen (N) content in aboveground phytomass on the turf after fertilization of different forms of fertilizers under non–irrigated conditions. The experiment was carried out in warm and dry conditions in the area of Nitra (Slovak Republic). There were included 7 treatments: 1. Without fertilization, 2. Saltpetre with dolomite, Superphosphate, Potassium salt, 3. Turf fertilizer 15–3–8 (+ 3MgO + 0.8Fe + 18S), 4. Slow release fertilizer SRF NPK 14–5–14 (+ 4CaO + 4MgO + 7S), 5. Controlled release fertilizer Duslocote NPK (S) 13-9-18 (+ 6S), 6. Organic fertilizer Condit (5-1-1) and 7. Organic fertilizer Veget (3-2-1). In the begging of the seasons fertilizing by controlled release fertilizer Duslocote NPK (S) 13-9-18 (+ 6S) had a slow onset of action. The opposite trend had use of organic fertilizer Condit (5-1-1) on nitrogen content in aboveground turf phytomass. The nitrogen concentration was statistically higher in variants fertilized with inorganic fertilizer and organic fertilizer Condit (5-1-1) (33,727 mg*kg-1 – 36,737 mg*kg-1) as a non-fertilized turf (28,446 mg*kg-1). Higher nitrogen content in aboveground phytomass was after application of organic fertilizer Condit (5-1-1) into the turf in comparison with fertilization inorganic fertilizers.

The potential use of mycorrhizal preparations on the turfs in urban landscape

The aim of this experiment was to evaluate application the effect of the application of mycorrhizal preparations on the turf and thus their potential for use in urban landscape. The experiment was carried out in warm and dry conditions in area of Nitra (Slovak republic) in 2012 – 2014 and consisted of. 4 treatments (1. without mycorrhizal preparation, 2. mycorrhizal preparation Turfcomp, 3. mycorrhizal preparation Symbivit, 4. mycorrhizal preparation Conavit). The following parameters were evaluated: average production of dry aboveground phytomass per cut, total production of dry above-ground phytomass per vegetation and annual average daily weight gain of dry above-ground phytomass of turf. For all of three indicators treatment after application Turfcomp reached higher value of production than the control. Turfs treated with Symbivit and Conavit reached lower production comparing to the control treatment. The differences between the treatments were statistically non-significant.