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bioweb.sungrant.org » Technical » Biomass Resources » Agricultural Resources » New Crops » Herbaceous Crops » Miscellaneous Other Grasses

Miscellaneous Other Grasses	Printer Friendly

Numerous herbaceous species (grasses) can potentially be developed for bioenergy and bioproducts use. Switchgrass (in the U.S.) and Miscanthus (in Europe) are the two crops that have received the greatest attention. But other grasses, such as giant reed and reed canary grass are also being evaluated.    Arundo donax (also called giant reed or fibercane) is a warm season, C3 perennial grass (i.e., the first product of photosynthesis is a three carbon compound). It is native to southern Europe and is commercially produced as a source of reeds in woodwind instruments and has been examined for paper and pulp applications. Giant reed can grow up to 20 feet tall in the southern U.S. and has hollow stems.  It produces large seedheads, but the seeds are not viable and it needs to be propogated from vegetative material such as shoots or rhizomes.  Establishment and harvesting can be accomplished with the same equipment as is used for sugarcane production. Annual yields in Alabama on test plots from 1999 to 2004 were 1.4, 8.8, 12.9, 14.3, 14.6, and 19.7 dry tons/acre. Arundo donax is classified as a noxious pest or invasive species in a number of states. This designation arises from problems encountered when rhizomes have escaped production regions and become established on riverbanks and wetland areas where it out competes native plants, mainly in California and in South Texas.   Reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea) is a cool season C3 grass (i.e., the first product of photosynthesis is a three carbon compound) native to temperate regions of Europe, Asia, and North America and adapted to much of the northern U.S. Reed canary grass grows well in cool temperate climates and displays good winter hardiness. It is established by seeding at shallow depths in firm seed beds and harvested using standard haying equipment. In the U.S. reed canary grass is used as a livestock forage crop and research has generally involved improving yields and selecting for nutritional quality. It has been evaluated as a bioenergy crop in Sweden for more than 10 years where yields of 9 dry MT/ha (4 dry ton/acre) were achieved with fall harvest and 7.5 dry MT/ha (3.3 dry ton/acre) with spring harvest (8 year average).  Recommended fertilizer rates are 40 kg N, 15 kg P, and 50 kg K/ha (about 35, 15, and 45 lb/acre respectively) in the first year and 100, 15, and 80 kg/ha (about 90, 15, and 35 lb/ac respectively) of N, P, and K in subsequent years.

Sources
D.I. Bransby, H. Gu, S.R. Duke, G.A. Krishnagopalan, and H.T. Cullinan, 2004, An update on giant reed and mimosa for energy, fiber, and other uses, 2004 Association for the Advancement of Industrial Crops/New Uses Council Joint Annual Meeting: Industiral Crops and Uses to Diversify Agriculture, Minneapolis, MN, September 19-22, 2004. David I. Bransby and Ernett Altheimer, 1999, Fibercane: A new, perennial, non-wood fiber crop for the southern United States, 1999 Association for the Advancement of Industrial Crops Annual Conference: New Crops and New Markets, Eugene, OR, October 17-23, 1999. James A. Duke, 1983, Arundo donax L., Purdue University Center for New Crops and Plants Products, www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop Iris Lewandowski, Jonathan M.O. Scurlock, Eva Lindvall, and Myrsini Christou, 2003, The development and current status of perennial rhizomatous grasses as energy crops in the U.S. and Europe, Biomass and Bioenergy 25, pp. 335-361.