ВПЛИВ БІОМЕТРИЧНИХ ПОКАЗНИКІВ РОСЛИН НА ВРОЖАЙНІСТЬ БІОМАСИ ІНТРОДУКОВАНИХ МАЛОПОШИРЕНИХ ЕНЕРГЕТИЧНИХ КУЛЬТУР

The involvement of rare energy crops into cultivation is highly important in the context of obtainingan additional energy resource – the biomass of these plants. Solid, liquid and gaseous biofuels areproduced from plant raw materials of energy crops, and their use will reduce the energy dependence oflocal communities. The study of their morphological and biological traits is another important issue thatwill enable to identify the peculiarities of yield formation and find effective ways to manage energy cropareas. Therefore, the aim of our research was to provide morphological and biological characteristics ofplants and to reveal the peculiarities of biomass formation of rare energy crops. Observations andanalyses based on the monographic method, data from dictionaries and reference books as well as theauthors’ own work and scientific publications of both Ukrainian and foreign scientists were used for thispurpose. Authorized scientific methods, DSTU and methods of research in agronomy were used in thelaboratory and field experiments. The results of multi-year research made it possible to establish thevariability of biometric indicators of energy crops: Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans (L.) Nash), BigBluestem (Andropogon Gerardii Vitman) and Columbus grass (Sorghum Almum Parodi). The highestheight and plant stem density are formed by Indian grass and Columbus grass. The interdependencebetween the quantitative indicators of plants of rare energy crops has been determined: as the height ofplants increases, their number and biomass yield increases. The highest yield of dry biomass is formedby Columbus grass and Indian grass, 8.0 and 5.0 t/ha, respectively. This indicator is significantly lowerin Big Bluestem – at a level of 2.3 t/ha. It has been established that the biometric indices of plants inheight and plant stem density have a significant impact on the level of biomass yield of the studiedenergy crops. This is confirmed by a strong rectilinear correlation (r>0.71) and multidimensionalrelationship, and is described by the following equation: z = – 2.7247 + 0.0664 × x - 0.0103 × y.Prospects for further research will be to study the seed productivity of rare energy crops depending ongrowing conditions.