Nitrogen Use Efficiency of Biomass Grasses Using Chemical and Organic Nitrogen Fertilizers.

The use of biomass to produce energy is one form of renewable energy that can be utilized to reduce the impact of energy production and use in the global environment. Use of biofuels as alternative energy sources is gaining increased attention, especially on lands considered marginal for agricultural food production. The objective of this study was to determine the nitrogen uptake patterns during the crop cycle for eastern gamagrass, switchgrass and high biomass sorghum comparing the nitrogen use efficiency among them with fertilized urea, municipal biosolids and poultry litter. The treatments tested included a control plot with no fertilizer nitrogen input; synthetic nitrogen fertilizers and municipal biosolids and poultry litter applied, all of them in four replicates. The experimental design was a randomized complete block replicated in a factorial arrangement of three crop species each with four nutrient sources. Plots are 24 ft wide by 90 ft long with 3 ft borders between each plot All nutrients were applied as per recommendations based on crop grown and soil tests. These results will provide the producers best management guidelines and some conclusions about the behavior of these crops and nitrogen sources of fertilizers as we embark into the agricultural bioenergy economy.