This study is an elaboration on the conference article written by the same authors, which presented the results of laboratory tests on the biogas efficiency of the following substrates: maize silage (MS), pig manure (PM), potato waste (PW), and sugar beet pulp (SB). This article presents methane yields from the same substrates, but also on a technical scale. Apart from that, it presents an original methodology of defining the Biochemical Methane Potential Correction Coefficient (BMPCC) based on the calculation of biomass conversion on an industrial scale and on a laboratory scale. The BMPCC was introduced as a tool to enable uncomplicated verification of the operation of a biogas plant to increase its efficiency and prevent undesirable losses. The estimated BMPCC values showed that the volume of methane produced in the laboratory was overestimated in comparison to the amount of methane obtained under technical conditions. There were differences observed for each substrate. They ranged from 4.7% to 17.19% for MS, from 1.14% to 23.58% for PM, from 9.5% to 13.69% for PW, and from 9.06% to 14.31% for SB. The BMPCC enables estimation of biomass under fermentation on an industrial scale, as compared with laboratory conditions.

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* renata gaj, anna budka, alicja niewiadomska, Jacek Przybył, Natalia Mioduszewska chair of agricultural chemistry and Environmental biogeochemistry Poznan university of life sciences abstract Optimal nutrition of sugar beets at critical growth stages is one of the crucial factors for the achievement of their highest yield potential. In the present study, it was presumed that reduced systems of sugar beet cultivation had no effect on the plants' nutritional status at critical growth stages, on their yield or technological quality. In 2012-2013, two series of one-factorial field experiments with different beet crop husbandry were carried out in order to verify this hypothesis. The cultivation systems of sugar beet crops differed in the postharvest cultivation technology, mulch types and seedbed tillage. Conservation tillage systems were compared with the control treatment, which represented the conventional cultivation system with an application of manure and 35 cm deep autumn ploughing. The plant nutritional status assessment was carried out at two dates corresponding to the following growth stages: BBCH 16/17 (6-8 fully unfolded true leaves) and BBCH 39/40 (row closing). Regardless of the methods of tillage or the year of observation, the results showed that the plants at BBCH16/17 stage were well-nourished with macroelements but malnourished with microelements, mainly iron and zinc. The microelement deficiency in the plants was a result of adjusted soil reaction, which varied from slightly acidic to neutral. At the BBCH 39/40 stage, there was a decreasing trend in the content of leaf macronutrients in the no-tillage systems treatments compared to the conventional tillage with the ploughing depth to 35 cm and manure application. The reduced tillage systems in sugar beet cultivation did not result in either a yield decrease or a worse technological quality of roots. The experimental factor had no significant effect on the content of molassegenic compounds in beet roots. A decreasing trend was observed in the content of α-amino nitrogen and potassium when compared to the traditional cultivation system. The study showed that the choice of a cultivation technology is of secondary importance as long as the plant grows in optimal conditions resulting from an appropriate site selection.