The yearly bioethanol production in Hungary is 150 million litre (with the highest amount being produced in Szabadegyháza). In the near future, several high capacity bioethanol plants are planned to be established. In Hungary, the amount of livestock has been reduced, we cannot use up the maize surplus as forage and the maize prices on the international market are low. These could also motivate the increased industrial utilisation of maize. In order to increase the efficiency of bioethanol production, we have to choose the most adequate hybrids – by means of testing – and the applied technology has to be changed in accordance with the aim of utilisation, as starch content needs to be higher in bioethanol production (70-75%). Since N fertilisers increase protein content and K fertilisers improve carbohydrate production, it seems to be practical to slightly reduce N and increase K in industrial production technologies, while conforming to the technological discipline.

The yield results achieved in the two experimental years show that the yield potential and yield itself are also determinant factors in bioethanol production from maize besides starch content. Moreover, yield potential is more important than starch percentage from the aspect of the amount of bioethanol that can be produced on a unit area.

Keywords: maize hybrids, bioethanol, fertilisation, testing