Title:
Water Use Efficiency of Sorghum Cultivated for Energy in Mediterranean Environments
Author(s):
Mastrorilli, M., Campi, P., Palumbo, A.D., Navarro, A., Modugno, F., Turci, V.
Document(s):
Paper
Abstract:
This research focuses on agronomic activities supporting the energy chain in irrigated farming systems in semi-dry environments. The introduction of species for energy biomass means the competition with traditional crops. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the productivity of non-food crops watered with limited irrigation volumes. The criterion for evaluating sub-optimal irrigation consisted in measuring the water use efficiency (WUE) . The experiment was performed over two years on two sorghum hybrids for biomass. In order to exploit the potential of sorghum under water deficit, the test involved a double harvest for each treatment. Crops were cut twice: first at the end of the “stem elongation” phase, and second, after the sprouts re-growth, up to the “grain waxy maturity ”. The highest WUE values were obtained by irrigating with 100% of crop evapotranspiration (ET) and harvesting twice, lengthening the growth cycle throughout the month of October. The irrigation volume of the second cutting was low and the second harvest produced a 33% of the total yield. In the event of reduced irrigation, double cutting improved WUE by 13.5% and dry matter production increased by 6.5 t ha-1 .
Keywords:
bioenergy, irrigation, sorghum bicolor L. Moench, water use
Topic:
Biomass Resources
Subtopic:
Energy crops (session 5)
Event:
19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
Session:
VP1.3.10
Pages:
565 - 568
ISBN-13:
978-88-89407-55-4
ISBN-10:
88-89407-55-7
Paper DOI:
10.5071/19thEUBCE2011-VP1.3.10
Price:
FREE
