Res. Agr. Eng., 2012, 58(4):119-130 | DOI: 10.17221/35/2011-RAE

Evaluation of reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) grown for energy use

Z. Strašil
Crop Research Institute, Prague, Czech Republic

Field experiments with reed canary grass were conducted during 1996-2000 at four different sites (Ruzyně, Troubsko, Lukavec and Chomutov in the Czech Republic). In the period 2001-2009 the experiments were run at Ruzyně and Lukavec. During vegetation the following indicators were monitored: the course of weather in individual years at given sites and infestation of stands by pests and diseases. Furthermore, we monitored the effects of N application rates, year, site, as well as the effect of harvest time on yields of harvested biomass, moisture content, elements content, and energy content. The content of heavy metals in soils and subsequently in plants was also monitored. The zoning methodology was created for reed canary grass. The highest average dry matter yield of reed canary grass harvested in late autumn was achieved for comparable periods during 1996-2000 at Ruzyně (8.33 t/ha), and the lowest at Chomutov (6.80 t/ha). The greatest effect of N fertilization on yields was recorded at Ruzyně, where the N2 rate (80 kg/ha) increased the yield on average by 28.6% in comparison with the non-fertilized variants. Average loss of biomass over winter was 23.0%.

Keywords: reed canary grass; yield, N fertilization; energy content; heavy metals; zoning

Published: December 31, 2012  Show citation

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Strašil Z. Evaluation of reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) grown for energy use. Res. Agr. Eng. 2012;58(4):119-130. doi: 10.17221/35/2011-RAE.
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