Paper details

Title:

Sorghum and Maize Biomass, Protein and Bioethanol Yields in a Semi-Arid Environment of Central Greece

Author(s):

Tsitsibikou, N., Dichala, O., Archontoulis, S.V., Bartzialis, D., Tzortzios, S., Danalatos, N.G., Struik, P.C.

Document(s):

Abstract:

We investigated biomass and protein productivity of Sudan sorghum and maize crops in relation to nitrogen fertilization (6, 15 and 35 g m­2) in central Greece. Sudan sorghum was cultivated under two management techniques: (a) as a row crop similar to maize cultivation (row­to­row distance: 75 cm; observed shoot density: 27 per m2) with a single harvest per year; and (b) as a very dense crop (row­to­row distance: 10 cm; observed shoot density: 155 per m2) with a three harvests per year, each when plants reached 1 m in height. Results indicated that Sudan sorghum grown at high plant density and harvested three times per season gave 67, 23 and 40% higher fresh, dry, and protein biomass yields, respectively, than maize. This superiority was explained by the fast increase in leaf area early in the season and by the high leaf/stem ratio at harvest. However, this cultivation strategy only yielded well at large amounts of nitrogen fertilizer (P<0.05 among N­levels). Our results are promising and provide an alternative cultivation opportunity for Greek farmers, but future cost/benefit studies are needed to assess whether this cultivation strategy is also profitable.

Keywords:

maize, proteins, biomass production, sorghum, forage feed

Topic:

Biomass Resources

Subtopic:

Energy crops (session 5)

Event:

19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

Session:

VP1.3.56

Pages:

720 - 726

ISBN-13:

978-88-89407-55-4

ISBN-10:

88-89407-55-7

Paper DOI:

10.5071/19thEUBCE2011-VP1.3.56

Price:

FREE