Triticale – past and future

Abstract. Two of the oldest plants that nature has provided to mankind for feeding - wheat and rye, are now combined in a totally new species. In Bulgaria, as well as all over the world, selection aims to create highly productive varieties, which are resistible to diseases. It was in the middle of the last century when people really started to work on that. The first variety of triticale in Bulgaria was obtained in 1965. The main growers of triticale are Germany, France, China, Australia, Hungary and USA, the biggest being Poland with over 1 million hectares. The main purpose of the crop worldwide is for food for the livestock. There are bread varieties of the triticale created, which are an appropriate addition to the wheat flour for the production of bread and bakery, as well as whole grains for cereals and triticale noodles. The newest usage of triticale is as a raw material for biofuels. Fertilization is critical to the yield and to the quality of production when growing triticale. In the past fertilization has been done by depositing manure, butmodern agriculture provides significantly greater choice. The synthetic fertilizers are easy to store and distribute. Fertilization is mechanical, according to the needs of the plants. The use of foliar fertilizers is also completely mechanized. The study of their impact on productivity and quality of production is a subject of growing interest, taking into account the positive impact of the experiments conducted so far