Journal of Agricultural Sciences, Belgrade 2019 Volume 64, Issue 1, Pages: 21-35
https://doi.org/10.2298/JAS1901021D
Full text ( 354 KB)
Influence of rhizome mass on the crop establishment and dry matter yield of Miscanthus×giganteus over ten seasons
Dželetović Željko S. (INEP - Institute for the Application of Nuclear Energy, Department for Radioecology and Agricultural Chemistry, Belgrade)
Andrejić Gordana Z. (INEP - Institute for the Application of Nuclear Energy, Department for Radioecology and Agricultural Chemistry, Belgrade)
Simić Aleksandar S. (Faculty of Agriculture, Belgrade)
Geren Hakan (University of Ege, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Field Crops, Izmir, Turkey)
The aim of the present investigation was to assess the influence of rhizome
mass on the success of plantation establishment and biomass yield of the
bioenergy crop M. × giganteus during 10 years of cultivation. The experiment
included three treatments with different rhizome masses: 10-20 g (very low);
25- 35 g (low), and 40-60 g (medium mass). Planting density was 2 rhizomes
m-2. The plants were harvested by mowing of the whole above-ground biomass
each year in February. Out of the total number of planted rhizomes, the
lowest emergence was noticed in very low mass rhizomes. In the first season,
the greatest number of stems and crop height were encountered under the
treatment with the highest rhizome mass. In the second season, crop heights
were almost equal in all treatments. During the first two seasons, the
highest biomass yields were recorded under the treatments with the highest
rhizome masses. Although the analyzed parameters were highest with the
rhizomes of 40-60g during the crop establishing stage, starting from the
third season of cultivation, high yields of above-ground biomass may be
obtained also with lower mass rhizomes. Having the highest biomass yield
(25.85±7.36 Mg DM ha-1), the crop established with rhizomes of 25-35 g
clearly stood out.
Keywords: biomass yield, crop establishment, M.× giganteus, rhizome mass